Apoclypse and Blood chapters 110
by Apoclypse
Summary: This is a Digimon universe story taking place in season 2 where Kari and T.K. are teenagers starring 3 OC's one of mine and 2 of friends but with heavy interaction between the real Digidestined. This is the first ten chapters and i will post more latr


**Chapter 1**

**4:30 at a park in the middle of the city…**

"Over here Tai I'm open I'm open." Agumon said waving his claws over his head trying to get his partner Taichi Kamiya to pass the soccer ball to him. "Here it comes Agumon. Woops" Tai said as Yamato "Matt" Ishida stole the ball from him heading to the other end of the field. "Gabumon heads up," Matt said kicking the ball to his partner. Leaping into the way of Gabumon, Davis Motomiya head butts the ball back towards Tai saying, "you got to be better than that to get by me Matt."

On the sidelines Kari Kamiya (Tai's baby sister), Gatomon, Sora Takenouchi, Biyomon, Mimi Tachikawa, Palmon, Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi, Tentomon, Joe Kido, Gomamon, Yolei Inoue, and Hawkmon are watching the match between Tai, Agumon, Davis and Veemon against Matt, Gabumon, T.K. and Patomon. Little benownst to them another boy around their age dressed in a suit and wearing a pair of glasses was watching them from the road with a cloaked figure about the size of a four year old beside him.

"Blood are these the ones I've been trying to track down?" The boy asked

"I believe so Apoclypse." The cloaked figure said when, suddenly, the soccer ball flew right at them. Catching the ball inches from his face the boy walks down to the group of kids saying "I believe this belongs to you."

Running up to the two Davis says breathless, "Thanks I hope I didn't hit you with that strike. My name is Davis by the way."

"A pleasure," Apoclypse began as he handed the ball to Davis. Looking at the two tallest boys and the Digimon who were suddenly lying on the ground motionless like stuffed animals he said, "Would either of you happen to be Taichi Kamiya or Yamato Ishida?"

"Yes, I'm Tai and this is Matt. Not to be rude but whom are you and how do you know our names?"

"Oh I'm sorry I guess I did forget to mention my name. I am known as Apoclypse, yes I know it's a strange name but my parents were strong believers in the supernatural and when I was born there was a massive earthquake back where I'm from and a volcano erupted at the same time. Anyway as for how I know your names, well you can tell your Digimon partners that they can get up I know what they are, you see I too, (he nods at the cloaked figure who lowers its hood revealing a red furred Gatomon) am a Digimon trainer."

Extending his hand to shake hands with Tai and the others Apoclypse says, "This is Blood my partner. We just moved here from America with my parents and I knew of your exploits during the Dark Masters incident and wanted to meet you."

"Excuse me Mr. Apoclypse but why is your partner red? I've only ever heard of Gatomon that looked like me." Gatomon asked

"Well it's kind of a long story but the short of it is the digital world he is from is a part of but separate from the one you are from. You see File Island and the area where you all fought the Dark Masters is only a tiny portion of the digital world. To put it in simple terms think of those two places as similar to Japan, the section he is from is like America, similar yet completely different."

"Wow you must have some weird looking Digimon over there hunh." Davis said once again putting his foot in his mouth

"Davis that was rude." Kari said slapping him upside his head.

"Sorry I just meant that if his Gatomon is red then the other Digimon that are like ours could look differently colored too."

"Well your right in one there Davis, you see while they are different colored they can also have different abilities. Gatomon please tell me what Digivolution level are you?"

"I'm a champion level why."

"Hmm, well if you are willing and the others don't mind would you mind having a friendly sparring match with blood, it will add to the point I'm trying to make once you're done."

Looking at Kari Gatomon asks, "Is it ok to do this Kari?"

"I don't see any harm in it. Just be careful ok."

Handing his cloak to Apoclypse Blood gets into a defensive stance and says, "Whenever you're ready miss."

"Lightning paw" Gatomon yelled leaping at Blood.

"Crimson lightning paw" Blood yelled dodging Gatomon's attack and slashing her across the back.

Growling in frustration Gatomon turns around and catches Bloods eye with her Cat's eye hypnotism after slapping himself several times in the face Blood breaks free of Gatomon's hypnosis and fires a laser at her from his tail saying, "Crimson cat laser." Scoring a direct hit with it he sends Gatomon skidding across the ground. "Blood that's enough," Apoclypse said opening the bag he carried. Walking over to Gatomon he quickly tends to the scratches on her back and the small burn on her chest where Bloods' laser hit.

Meowing in pain Gatomon says, "How is he so much stronger than me we should be of equal power."

"I'm sorry he hurt you so much. You said he is more powerful than you, what would you say if I told you that he isn't a champion level Digimon but is in reality only a rookie level?"

"WHAT," cried the group?

"Wait what do you mean that he isn't even a champion level Digimon? All Digimon of the same type, i.e. all Gatomon, all Agumon, or all Angemon are of the same level it's just not possible that he is a rookie or lower level." Izzy said

"I assure you Izzy that he is only a rookie, if you need proof I can have him Digivolve to his champion form."

"Please do, I would like to see what kind of Digimon he would turn into if he is only a rookie."

"Crimson Gatomon Digivolve too…Red Leomon."

"What the hell? How is this possible?" Izzy said getting his laptop out. "Oh look a message from Gennai."

"Digidestined I need to warn you of a great threat that is coming to the Digital World. This thing is far more powerful than Arukenimon and her minions and makes BlackWarGreymon look like a cake walk. I received word from the Gennai of the North American Digital World region that he has caused his most powerful Digidestined to be relocated to this region. If you meet him listen to him and what he has to offer. His partner is a CrimsonGatomon and answers to the name Blood. Take care and prepare for a battle unlike any you have met before." Gennai's voice said from the email.

"Looks like the jig is up Blood," Apoclypse said as Blood De-Digivolved into his rookie form.

"I guess you're right I was hoping to get to know them a bit more before they found out but since Gennai can't keep his big mouth shut I guess we have to tell them everything." Blood said growling slightly.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on this is confusing the hell out of me." Davis said holding his head.

"Well it's a long story and I know that two of your team are not here. Is there a way for you to call them to meet us so I can tell all of you at the same time?"

"Yes I can get them a message right now." Kari said pulling out her D-terminal. "Where do you want them to meet us?"

"How about at the steakhouse a few blocks over. My parents are the owners of the restaurant's chain so I can get us the private parlor, and I'll even treat everyone to some dinner while I explain."

"Free food, I like this guy already." Davis said looking at Apoclypse in awe.

"Just for that you get to order off the kids menu." Apoclypse said with an evil smirk to the laughter of the rest of the Digidestined.

**Twenty minutes later…**

"Hey guys what's up. Your message said you had something urgent to talk to us about." Ken Ichijouji said as he and Cody Hida walked into the private parlor of the restaurant with their Digimon, Wormmon and Armadillomon under their arms.

"Ken, Cody I would like you to meet Apoclypse, he is from the United States and is a Digidestined like us. The North America Gennai caused his parents to have to come here and he has some troubling news to tell us." Tai said as Ken and Cody shook hands with Apoclypse.

"Please sit down, and order what you like from the menu." Apoclypse said as the waiter came over and took everyone's orders. After the waiter left to fill the orders Apoclypse said, "As Tai said I am from the United States and our Gennai caused me to be relocated here with my parents. That is the good news. The bad news is that your part of the digital world is about to encounter an evil far more powerful than the BlackWarGreymon. This creature was so powerful he took down my entire team, Blood and I barely escaped his wrath, albeit not without some damage, before our Gennai did whatever he did to get my parents to be transferred here with their normal jobs. All of our friends are currently nothing more than data waiting to be revived at our primary village. Unfortunately that place was corrupted by his power and is unable to revive anyone." Apoclypse said hiding his face in his hands.

"So he killed the Digimon of your friends what about the humans are they ok?" Kari asked

Slowly Apoclypse looks up at Kari tears running down his face and says, "You don't understand Kari, when I said he took down my team I don't mean just the Digimon he killed everyone. The only thing that saved us was that blood was the only member of our team that had acquired his mega level form, and his power at that form was like a gnat bouncing off the head of an elephant."

Gasping in horror Kari, Mimi, Sora, and Yolei all grab each other while the boys just stare dumbstruck at Apoclypse.

"When Gennai told me what he was going to do about getting me over here he said that I must train you guys to come to a power level far beyond what you have now and that together we can defeat this creature and reverse the damage he has done. He calculated how long it would take for the creature to get here based on the power he showed and while the news isn't good it's not that bad either. I have one year to help you guys reach a level beyond what you know."

"But how are we supposed to get our partners to be as strong if not stronger than Blood when he is more powerful than them and only a rookie level?" Izzy asked

"To get them to be as strong as Blood in his rookie form is not a problem. I know how the Digimon of my region got so strong and have everything I need in my bag. Let's eat first then I'll explain more afterwards." Apoclypse said as two waiters came with their food and drinks.

As they finish their food (half of which they gave to their Digimon) Apoclypse says, "Now to business, I believe that it is currently summer break for the schools here am I correct?"

"Yes we have about 5 more weeks before we have to resume classes." Kari said

"Right, well I have a private mansion to myself in Osaka while my parents are here in their city penthouse to tend to their businesses. The best way for us to train would be for you to come to my place and spend the summer with me. Unlike most parents of Digidestined mine actually support me in my quest to make the Digital World safe. As for that they have helped me make up these flyers making it look like that our mansion is actually a summer camp. Now I know your parents know of your previous adventure in the Digital World wherein you defeated the Dark Masters. But if my guess is right they would not want you to go back there if they suspected danger am I correct?"

"Well Yolei, Ken, Davis and Cody's parents are still in the dark about them being Digidestined but as for the rest of us your right." Matt said

"Well these flyers make my "summer camp" look really expensive, so I have these "coupons" which will make you able to get a "full term" for free. Give these to them as well as these letters that will inform them that you were chosen as the best candidates from every child in Japan by our councilors to be admitted to our program. I know it sounds creepy that I did all this research on all of you but each letter is worded to show that we have facilities that will help you advance in specific fields in which you already excel. For example Matt yours says that you will be taught new and better styles of playing your guitar which will enable you to take your band to a new level and upon completion of the course you will be introduced to a record company."

"Well you sure know how to lay a cover story," Cody began "but I have one question."

"I have a feeling I know what you're about to ask Cody but go ahead."

"Well earlier you said you escaped this evil Digimon but not without damage. What did you mean by that? I'm sorry if it's an embarrassing question but I'm just curious about how you were damaged yet show no outward signs of injury."

With a deep sigh Apoclypse says, "I figured you would ask that Cody." Swiftly Apoclypse walks over to the door and locks it and makes sure all the blinds to the parlor are shut before turning back to the others. As he walks back he starts unbuttoning his shirt and says, "What I'm going to show all of you is not something I would show just anyone." Taking off his suit shirt and then his under shirt he shows a massive scar on his torso going from his left shoulder all the way down to his right side disappearing into his pants and from his right shoulder to his left side making a giant X that intersected at just below his sternum. Turning around he shows that the scars are matched on his back. Over the top of his pants everyone sees, and with the exception of Davis quickly look away from what appears to be the top of a diaper. Seeing that Davis is looking at the top of his diaper rather than the scars Apoclypse said, "See something more interesting my scars Davis?"

Getting angry glares from everyone else Davis says, "Sorry I was just taken by surprise by the scars and then I saw…"

"Forget it, I know what you saw and I know the others had seen it too. Yes it is a diaper and I have to wear it because of the scars."

"My god, how did you survive an attack that left that kind of scar?" Sora asked after she looked at the scars more closely.

"I have no idea Sora, but Gennai found me and Blood unconscious in some bushes shortly after he left and treated my wounds. When I came to he said I was lucky to be alive but there was severe trauma to my bladder and that because of it I would be urinarily incontinent for the rest of my life." Apoclypse said putting his shirts back on tucking them into place to hide the diaper once again.

Opening his bag Apoclypse reaches in digging for something while saying "Now I said I had something that would make your Digimon be equal to Bloods power in his rookie form. Ah here we are. These berries are a special berry that is very abundant in my region. I have enough here to get everyone to his power level and a little extra. Gatomon since you are already a Champion form and you only ever revert to your Rookie form when you are completely drained you will get the extra to make yourself equal to Blood when he is in his champion form. However for the berries to take full effect quickly I have to prepare them a special way that Gennai helped me master before I left. So when we meet tomorrow I'll have them ready for you."

"I've seen those berries before" Gatomon said shocking everyone. "When I was forced into slavery by Myotismon I was forced to make them in a special way for him every day. I was able to sneak a few sips here and there from the glass before I took it to him which is why I'm able to stay in my champion form."

"Well since you've felt their effect in a small scale I know you will love how you feel after having a full glass to yourself." Apoclypse said smiling at her

"Apoclypse we appreciate that you showed us your scars. If there is ANYTHING you need while we train don't be afraid to ask." Mimi said giving him a hug as they left the restaurant.

"Thanks Mimi. I'll see all of you tomorrow. Oh before I forget here's my cell number if any of you need to call me or if your parents don't believe you about the "camp" have them call this number and I will reassure them about what the flyers and letters said." Apoclypse said passing a slip of paper to each of them with his number on it.

Waving good bye to them he gets into the waiting limo and heads for his parents penthouse suite to stay the night.

**Chapter 2**

**In Apoclypse's parents city penthouse at 7:00 A.M. …**

"Apoclypse sweetie time to wake up, breakfast is ready." Apoclypse's mother called from the kitchen breaking through his dream.

Yawning Apoclypse throws off the blanket and slowly gets off the couch. Walking into the kitchen he sits at the table next to his father and pours himself a glass of juice as his father says, "So how did you sleep son, I know you were up late taking phone calls from the parents of the Digidestined you met yesterday. Did you manage to convince them all that your "camp" was legitimate?"

Taking a sip of juice as his mother put pancakes and eggs on his plate Apoclypse replies, "Well I think so, the kids are supposed to meet me back at that park we met at around lunch time if they convinced their parents to let them come. Thanks again for letting me use our mansion as the "camp." I just hope that my plan works and they are able to get strong enough to help me defeat that bastard that killed my friends and almost killed me."

"APOCLYPSE, I know your angry about what he did but what did we tell you about swearing." His mother scolded.

"Sorry momma I'm just so scared and nervous. I had another nightmare last night and I'm still a bit shaken from it. It was just like all the others but this time it was the kids I met yesterday being murdered in front of me."

Giving her son a hug she says, "Its ok sweetie I know you're scared I would be too if I had gone through what you did. Just remember that despite what he did to your friends back home and you being in mortal danger when you go back to the Digital World to take him down, that we support you all the way. Just promise us that you will train the others to their best that way you can go a step further and become the hero we know that you are deep inside."

"I promise momma, can I eat my breakfast now. I have a lot I need to do before I go meet the others at the park and take them to our mansion."

**Later at the park…**

"It's almost noon Apoclypse, where could they be?" Blood said impatiently.

"Patience Blood, there is still time," Apoclypse said as his phone started ringing. Looking at the screen to see who it is he sees that it's registered to Cody he realizes that Cody's parents are the only ones who hadn't called he answers saying, "Camp Superior, this is the assistant head councilor Apoclypse speaking how may I help you?"

"Hello, my son is Cody Hida; he gave me a flyer and a letter that he got from one of your councilors who were at the park yesterday. I had a few questions about your Camp and was wondering if you had the time to answer them." A female voice said

"Of course Mrs. Hida, how can I assist you? We really are looking forward to your son attending our exclusive camp this summer."

"Yes well the letter said that your camp would help him become exponentially greater in fields that he has shown potential in. I was wondering how that's possible, because he said that some of his friends have gotten similar letters and flyers to take to their parents. I doubted that any camp could focus so many kids' different potential at once."

"Well as you can see by the flyer that our main building is a mansion, the mansion is just one of the buildings that we have that help children focus on their potential. It has a top of the line computer lab, an Olympic size pool, a basketball court, a fully stocked dojo for all manner of martial arts and that's only in the west wing. Behind the building we have a full size soccer field, archery ranges, a wood working shop and a metal shop. We also have a concert hall for those of musical talent as well as a theater for those who are adept at being thespians."

"Amazing this flyer dose your camp no justice. I just had one more question, the coupon that the gentleman gave him said it permits the child to a full term of camp for free, how much would this camp cost without the coupon? I'm asking because if you really do make him excel at one field we might want to enroll him next summer to get better at more things."

"Well ma'am the cost of the camp is based on how many fields the child is wishing to excel in. For one to two fields the cost is ten thousand dollars American; however that price is before any discounts the child might qualify for which are based on a number of factors including his GPA in school and what he is wishing to become better at."

"Interesting, well I give him permission to come to the camp today I know his friends are probably already at the meeting point but he still needs to pack for the camp can I ask that you tell the person who is meeting him and his friends to wait another hour before leaving. He should be ready and there by then."

"Of course ma'am, I'll send word to him immediately."

"Thank you and goodbye then."

"Goodbye ma'am."

Minutes later everyone except Cody showed up. "Where's Cody, don't tell me he didn't get permission to come." Yolei said looking around.

"Oh don't worry about Cody he should be here within the hour I just finished talking to his mother on the phone a few minutes ago. She waited to call because of how late it was when he got home. While we wait how about we play a game of soccer I have a new ball right here and there is enough of us to make 2 teams of 6."

Forty minutes later the score was tied at 6 with Joe, Kari, T.K., Ken, Matt and Davis on one side and Apoclypse, Tai, Izzy, Sora, Mimi, and Yolei on the other with their Digimon watching from the sidelines helping keep score when Cody walked up dragging his suitcase.

"Hi guys sorry I'm late, mom took some extra convincing to get her to let me come, and grandpa wanted to give me one last quick lesson in my Kendo practice before I left."

"Don't worry about it Cody I could tell just by the way your mom sounded on the phone that she is a very formidable woman. Though I'm glad she decided to let you come. Well guys how about we just call the game a tie. Since Cody is here we can go to the train station and catch the 3:00 to Osaka."

** Later on the train…**

"Ok now that were all settled I guess it's time I gave you all the berry drinks I made. Before I give them to you however I must ask you all to put these on." Apoclypse said pulling out 12 black rings and a black obelisk statue from his bag.

"Wait a second where did you get those dark rings and a dark spire miniature I thought they were all destroyed when I stopped being the Digimon Emperor." Ken said shocked as the others got into a defensive posture with their Digimon.

"Please calm down. I'll explain everything but I ask you don't interrupt. You see Ken when I first learned of the Digital World and of my partner blood I like you had a dream to rule over the Digiworld. However, unlike you I had nothing but the best intentions for my region. While I did create dark spires and these versions of the dark rings it was to make a world where everyone got along and didn't create trouble. Fortunately, shortly after I started this, I realized what I was doing was wrong, nobody has the right to take away the free will of sentient creatures so I destroyed all of the dark spires I could get to but that was when the proverbial shit hit the fan. You remember how Arukenimon used her hair to spear the dark spires to create powerful "dark" Digimon, (everyone nods) well she had a cousin in my region but unlike your Arukenimon she didn't stop when she hit 100 spires, which is what created your Black War Greymon, she hit 10,000 spires all at once which is what created the creature that destroyed my friends."

"Well that explains how you came by the dark spire and rings but why do you still have them?" Ken asked

"I kept these rings and the control spire for them to use as nothing more than a training tool. You see before I stopped building the spires Blood insisted that I allow him to train in combat to make himself as strong as possible on the off chance that something happens. So I kept a ring for him and all of the Digimon he befriended to become training partners for him. Eventually using the devices I had created in my own floating citadel I was able to monitor the power levels of Blood and the Digimon he had chosen. While they progressed slowly but steadily I noticed spikes in his power level every time he fought. I finally had him remove the ring and fight once without it to get a proper reading and what I saw blew my mind, just like it blew yours when I said he was only a rookie level."

"What could be so odd that you were blown away?" Kari said nervously.

"What I saw was that when he was scared or in severe pain his power spiked higher than ever. In his rookie form when those spikes happened he was equal to that of an ultimate level Digimon. I decided to study this data and have him Digivolve to his ultimate form to compare power levels. The strange thing is, when he was in his ultimate form he was barely stronger than his rookie form during such power spikes. Unfortunately by the time I found this out our friends were dead. And Geni was working on getting me here. I give you my word of honor that I will not use these rings for anything other than to help your Digimon become the best they can be."

"I believe you." Tai said watching Apoclypse closely. "I can see the pain in your eyes at what you caused when those dark spires of your server were used for evil. I can also tell you have a good heart and only wanted to do not but good with those dark spires."

"Thank you Tai, how do the rest of you feel? Confound it all not now." Apoclypse said turning red as he completely filled his diaper. "Excuse me for a moment I'll be right back." He said grabbing his bag and running to the bathroom trying not to leak all over the place. A couple minutes later he comes back and sits down acting like nothing happened.

"We have discussed it while you were gone and we have decided to allow you to use the rings on our Digimon with the provision that Tai is allowed to be the one to carry the control spire." Ken said as the Digimon held the rings.

"Of course I have no problem relinquishing the spire as a show of trust. Here is the spire and the control terminal for it." Apoclypse said handing the device and spire over. "The commands are the same as the ones you had when you were the Digimon Emperor Ken so you can tell them if I lie about any command codes. Tai, before the Digimon drink the mixture I made, punch in the codes block Digivolution, and allow power increase to Digimon."

After the Digimon put the rings on Tai looks at Ken who nods and punches in the codes as he was told then Apoclypse pulls out a large jug and several collapsible cups giving each Digimon a cup and to the surprise of the others, a cup to them, he pours the juice into each cup, pouring one for himself he says, "Oh by the way, Gatomon you can probably attest to this, but this stuff is very nasty tasting, its best to chug it all at once to avoid any after taste."

Downing his glass before the others Apoclypse shudders at the vile taste and waits for the others to drink theirs down then refills everyone's cups. After two more refills there is just enough left for Gatomon to have her "extra cup" and determined to drink it all she downs it then shivers from head to tail at the vile taste. Pulling out another jug Apoclypse says, "don't worry this is just plain old tap water to help wash out the vile taste of that berry." Eagerly everyone downs glass after glass of water until they can no longer taste the berry. After everyone had taken a quick bathroom break, including Apoclypse who had to change yet again, Izzy asks, "I know that you said the berry helps increase a Digimon to a higher potential but I'm curious, why did you have us, and stranger still, yourself drink the juice?"

"You missed the point I tried to make yesterday Izzy this berry dose not only work for Digimon but also for humans, I didn't believe it myself until Gennai had me drink a glass then he made me do some math problems that were years beyond what I was supposed to be able to comprehend and I blew through them in a matter of minutes. If you don't believe me let me ask you what level of mathematics you are on at school Izzy?"

"I'm on college level Calculus though I have been struggling with it."

"Ok I have a math program on my computer here. It is programed to do math up to doctorate level mathematics for all fields of study. Let me pull up a starter level problem for Chaos theory mathematics, I know it's beyond what you are on but I have a feeling you will do fine. There we go. Solve this problem. The program will time you from the moment you start typing to when you finish and will tell you if you have the correct answer."

One minute and forty five seconds later Izzy stops typing as the computer sounds off a fanfare signaling that he had the correct answer. "You see you were always adept at math and computer coding, the juice tapped into that potential and opened your mind to a new level of consciousness. These berries bring out the buried potential of the one who drinks its juices. If drunk in large enough quantities a rookie level Digimon could potentially have the same strength of a mega level, however there is a catch, in high quantities, that is high quantities at one time or within a short period of time, the juices have a potential to become toxic and end up causing massive harm instead of good. Don't worry (the others blanched) what we drank was nowhere near that level."

Seeing the stunned look on Izzy's face that he had just completed a math problem that was years ahead of where he was the others laugh and finally start to relax. "Now that I have proven that I'm not trying to trick you would you mind doing me a favor? We have about 7 more hours before we reach my mansion so I was wondering if you could tell me all of your exploits in the digital world starting when you eight first became Digidestined, it will allow me to plan for the best way to train you when we get there."

Upon reaching the mansion Apoclypse shows everyone to their rooms and where the bathrooms are. The girls got a room to themselves while the boys split two rooms between them, as everyone go ready for bed Apoclypse says, "sleep well guys I'll give you a tour of the place early then we start training." Going to his own bedroom that a butler had stocked for him that day with plenty of diapers and changing supplies; Apoclypse changes into a thicker nighttime diaper and crawls into bed with Blood beside him and falls asleep within moments.

**Chapter 3**

**Just before dawn in Apoclypse's bedroom…**

Waking up with a start Blood sees that the sky is starting to grow bright with predawn light and wonders why he woke up so suddenly. Hearing Apoclypse groaning and seeing that he is thrashing about in his sleep he tries to wake up his partner but is unsuccessful. Thinking quickly he decides to try and get one of the others to come help him wake Apoclypse up before he is injured as has happened in the past. Dashing out of the room he checks the boys' rooms first being unable to get any of them to wake up he leaves the second room and sees Mimi coming out of the bathroom walking back to the girls' room. Quick as a flash he says, "Mimi quick I need your help."

Turning around quickly she see's Blood staring up at her from Tai, Matt, Joe, and Izzy's room and asks sleepily, "Blood what's wrong? I thought Apoclypse and you slept in a different room."

"We do. Quick I need your help to wake Apoclypse he is having a severe nightmare again and I can't wake him from it. I'll explain later but it is imperative that we wake him up now." Blood said grabbing her hand and tugging on it.

Quickly Mimi and Blood get to Apoclypse's room and see that he is in a full blow fit, groaning and yelling in his sleep. Acting quickly Mimi runs over to Apoclypse and tries every trick she knew to wake someone from a nightmare. Eventually Apoclypse opens his eyes as Mimi is slapping him about the face and catches her hand before she can hit him again and asks, "Not to be rude Mimi but, why are you in my room slapping me?"

"You were having a really bad nightmare. Blood was really worried about you and caught me as I was coming out of the bathroom to get my help. He couldn't wake you and said it was imperative that we get you awake. When I got here you were thrashing about really violently and yelling. I'm surprised the others didn't wake up from the racket."

"Actually he did wake us up Mimi." Sora said from the doorway rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Mimi, I thank you for doing what you could to wake me. I guess I owe you all an explanation about why Blood freaked out about my nightmare. Why don't you guys go get dressed and I'll show you to the dining room and tell you over breakfast." After everyone had left the room Apoclypse throws back the covers and sees that despite the absorbency level of the diaper he had leaked all over the under pad he had put down and grumbling quickly removes the completely soaked diaper and cleans himself up with some wipes, as he cleaned up he also checked to see if there were any new wounds on his body. Finding none he breathes a sigh of relief and, applying powder to his front and back he puts on one of his middle absorbency diapers and gets dressed.

As everyone sits down to breakfast around the table Jefferson, the butler, places a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon and in front of everyone and keeping his silence places a plate in front of each Digimon as well. Once he had placed the plates of food and filled everyone's glass with juice Apoclypse says, "Thank you Jefferson. Could you let Betty know that we will be having lunch at "The ROOM" and will require just a regular sack lunch."

"Very well young master, if there is anything else you require; just use the intercom from "The Room"." At this Jefferson goes back to the kitchen to his own breakfast.

"I know you're all curious why Blood freaked out about my nightmare. This may sound strange but, when I have dreams what happens in them can have real physical results on my body. When I have good dreams, they are usually just dreams about playing with Blood or wining a big game in some sport, and I end up having greater muscle tone and stamina in the end. The downside to having this happen is when I have nightmares. Last time I had a severe nightmare like the one Mimi had woken me from, and let me thank you once again for waking me when you did Mimi; I ended up having a deep cut on my left arm. It was so bad that I had to have eighty-seven stiches to close the wound and I almost lost some functionality of my arm. I have no idea what causes my dreams to have physical ramifications but it's something I wish I could be rid of."

"I'm just happy that you're ok Apoclypse." Mimi said putting a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

After they had finished breakfast Apoclypse gives everyone a tour of his mansion hitting every place that he had mentioned to Cody's mother, and a few other places such as; the weight room, the boxing/wrestling gym, a two lane bowling alley, a soccer field, a martial arts dojo and a room that was labeled simply as "The Room".

"This place is Amazing." Tai, Ken, Kari, and Davis said in unison.

"Prodigious, this room is like a full blown virtual reality system isn't it?" Izzy said looking at the holograms floating off of one of the walls.

"Well I guess that's one way of putting it Izzy. Are any of you familiar with a television show called Star Trek?" Apoclypse said

"I used to watch Star Trek the Next Generation all the time when my parents were going through a sci-fi phase." Joe said

"Perfect, then you are familiar with their Holo-deck right?"

"HOLY SHIT, are you telling us you figured out how to make a real life version of it?" Joe exclaimed.

Grinning evilly Apoclypse said, "Is it really that hard to believe when you have a friend from another universe standing right there next to you Joe? Remember how I told you how Gennai gave me some math problems; well math was only one of my potentials. I was always good with science and theoretical physics. After I came back to the real world shortly before we came to Japan I made a large batch of the juice and with the mental spike I was able to create a prototype of the tech that runs this room, I knew I had succeeded when I made a hologram of a cat jump up on my fathers' lap scaring the crap out of him, as we didn't have a cat. When we got here my parents allowed me to make a full size version of the Holo-deck on the condition that I show them how to work it so they can use it to relax whenever they want."

"Not that it isn't amazing that you were able to make this room, but what purpose would this room serve us?" Davis asked once again showing his dimwittedness.

"Davis you really are clueless aren't you" Joe said shocking everyone

"Well since you are the only other person here who seems to know the applications of the Holo-deck Joe why don't you explain it to them. I'll be right back." Apoclypse said feeling his diaper swell rapidly as he heads for the bathroom. Sitting onto the toilet he unfastens his diaper and slides it out from under him as he continues to pee into the toilet. When he is sure that he has no more left in him he cleans himself up and puts a new diaper on and throws away the soiled one. Walking back into "The Room" he sees that Joe has everyone dumbstruck by regaling them with stories on how the Holo-deck was used on Star Trek T.N.G.

"Well now that you have a basic understanding on how this room is supposed to work we can get started on your training. Computer load Digimon Training program Gamma seven." To everyone's shock, including Joe who knew how the Holo-deck was supposed to work, they are suddenly surrounded by a lush forest and the sounds of birds and other forest life.

Walking over to a tree Apoclypse grabs a branch and starts climbing. Calling down to the others after disappearing into the canopy he says, "This program is very simple. You're going to give me a 10 minute head start to get away, after that you are to try and catch me and Blood, the catch is that your partners are NOT allowed to Digivolve. While Blood will take his mega form for no longer than the ten minute time limit to spirit me away to another sector of the room. You know from Joe that the room once activated can have an infinitesimal directionality. So start planning how you're going to catch me. When my head start time is over a buzzer will sound. Good luck." At that he starts dashing through the treetops as Blood keeping pace with him warp Digivolves saying "Crimson Gatomon warp Digivolve to Crimson Saber Leomon."

As they wait for the timer to sound the group plans a strategy to quickly capture Apoclypse and Blood.

"I think the best way would be for us to split into four groups and go in four different directions." Tai said.

"I think the best division of our skills should be to have Yolei, Hawkmon, Ken, Wormmon, Mimi and Palmon be group one. Group two will consist of Tai, Agumon, Cody, Armadillomon, Tentomon and I. Group three will be Kari, Gatomon, T.K., Patomon, Joe and Gomamon. Group four will be Sora, Biyomon, Matt, Gabumon, Davis and Veemon. This way each group has some aerial surveillance which will give us all a better chance at finding a trail if Apoclypse stays on the treetops." Izzy said. As they all get into their groups the buzzer sounds and they run in four directions as the four flying Digimon take to the air and get above the trees.

After an hour of running and searching the four groups all stop to take a break and take a drink checking with the others via their D-Terminals. Seeing that none of them are close to catching Apoclypse, Davis, with a stunning flash of brilliance, suggests that they have Patomon, Tentomon, Biyomon, and Hawkmon start searching using a spiral flight pattering going out to make sure that Apoclypse and Blood don't end up running behind them.

Watching them using a hand held terminal that is wirelessly connected to the room so he can see anything Apoclypse chuckles saying to Blood, "They sure did travel a nice distance in that one hour. The cameras say they ran at least five miles. They probably don't even realize that they ran that far. I guess we should start leading them towards us."

"You're just going to "LET" them catch us?"

"Not exactly, we might as well get a bit of training in while they run towards us, so which of our old foes do you want to fight today?"

"Let's go with VenomMyotismon, he isn't easy but I can still beat him in my champion form."

"Computer Load combat training enemy VenomMyotismon in my location." Apoclypse said as Blood Digivolved to Red Leomon.

As Blood is battling VenomMyotismon the others hear the explosions and racket and turn towards the noise and with the help of the flying Digimon who were above the trees and therefore able to see what was going on find out that VenomMyotismon is fighting someone. As they near the fight Blood launches himself at VenomMyotismon's head and completely severs it with his sword yelling "Scarlet Flow Blade." As he lands and VenomMyotismon disappears Blood DeDigivolves back into Crimson Gatomon and sits down panting heavily. Running up to him Apoclypse pulls out a bottle of water and takes the top off then gives it to him saying, "Well you broke your record on beating him blood you're definitely getting stronger."

"Apoclypse, Blood are you okay." Kari asked as she and the others emerged from the trees surrounding them.

"Oops. Looks like our little battle let them catch us eh Blood?"

"Oh you aren't fooling us Apoclypse we know you had the computer load up that facsimile of VenomMyotismon to lead us toward you." Joe said smirking at Apoclypse.

"Ok I admit it, the real reason I had you guys "chase" me was to see how much the berries affected your speed. Do you realize that from the start point you ran for five miles before you took a break to get a drink?"

"I figured it was about that. I'm just surprised that we got five miles in an hour." Ken said rubbing his calves.

"So how do you all feel after running approximately ten miles, five out and about that to get to Blood and me after I had the computer make VenomMyotismon appear?"

After saying they felt a little sore but otherwise fine Apoclypse has the computer create a video monitor large enough to show all them footage of the past two hours and stopping the footage at certain spots he points out where each group could have done better and highlights spots where they had missed clues that Blood and he had left on purpose to help them find him. As he finishes talking Betty's voice comes over the intercom to "The ROOM" saying, "Master Apoclypse I have your lunches here would you like me to come in or should I leave the cart here?"

"Were just finishing up in here for today Betty, we'll be right out." Apoclypse said pressing a button on the monitor causing the doorway to appear. As they each grab a lunch bag from the cart Apoclypse leads them out a door to a nearby picnic area that overlooks the lake. As they eat Apoclypse tells the rest that to help keep the cover story he had laid for them being there that each afternoon they would each get an hour in "The ROOM" or up to three hours in one of the facilities in the mansion to help improve on the "skill" that they had told their parents they would be working on at "camp."

"I understand that we should keep our cover stories while where here but shouldn't we be spending as much time as possible training?" T.K. asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"I take it you've never worked out seriously before have you T.K." "Or any of you for that matter" Apoclypse added seeing that they agreed with him.

"Not really." Kari started, "we normally just play soccer once in a while or walk to wherever we are going to get exercise."

"Well that's fine if you want to maintain where you are but when you seriously work out, or train, it is unhealthy to spend all of your time doing so. You have to let your body rest after so much otherwise it won't get stronger. It will actually get weaker."

"He's right guys. That's one of the things we learned when I first started taking classes to be a doctor, when we were being trained how to treat injuries of those who worked out too hard. We were taught to tell the person who was working out exactly what Apoclypse said because scientifically it has been proven positive." Joe said pushing his glasses higher onto his nose.

"Right, so who wants to use the room first to get some of their "skills" training in, and who wants to use the other facilities?" Apoclypse asked as they started debating who should get to use the room first. Seeing that none of them could agree on who got to use the room first Apoclypse pulls out a sheet of paper, rips it into pieces, then writes their names on the pieces and putting them into his hat says, "why don't we just pull a name out of the hat and that person gets to go first and we continue to do this until everyone has had a chance to use the room. Obviously if more than one of you is going to use the room for the same purpose, it would make sense to have all of those for said purpose go in at once."

As they agreed Tai, Sora and Davis agree to go in together to work on their soccer/sports skills, while Izzy, and Ken agree to go in to work on scientific pursuits.

Mimi and Matt agree that they didn't need the room right off as they were both going to work on their musical talent and head off to the concert hall to set up so Matt can work on his guitar playing while Mimi sings the lyrics to the songs they choose. T.K. and Kari agree to work together outside on the grounds, she to take pictures of the place, and he to write about what they see. Yolei wanting to become a nurse someday decides that she and Joe would work together in "The ROOM" when it's their turn so she can learn from him and he can further his skills as a medic/doctor. Finally Cody asks, "Apoclypse I was wondering if you would mind giving me a more thorough look at the dojo room where you have all the martial arts equipment?"

"Sure Cody, I know you're very adept at Kendo, perhaps you and I could make a trade."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well I don't know didily squat about Kendo, however I am trained in Kuk Sool Won, or Korean National Martial Arts as it's known in English. If you're willing to teach me Kendo I would be glad to train you in Kuk Sool Won."

"You have a deal."

"Great just let me show the guys who are going to use "The ROOM" how to use its databank to load different things and well head over to the dojo." "Damn it not again. I'll be right back." Apoclypse said turning red stomping off to the bathroom as he filled his diaper to near capacity.

Returning after a couple of minutes Apoclypse shows everyone how to use the room properly then takes Cody to the dojo room and they both put on the padded gear for kendo fighting. Taking up their Kendo sticks Cody shows Apoclypse the basic strikes and blocks and they go back and forth for about an hour before they take a break. After changing his diaper again Apoclypse checks the store room with the Martial Arts uniforms for one in Cody's size and is surprised that he actually has a pair in white and black coloring. Grabbing the black one and his own out of his locker Apoclypse has Cody put it on and shows him how to properly tie the belt. Two hours, and 3 diaper changes later, Cody is throwing Apoclypse in the first six self-defense techniques of the white belt rank properly. "Damn Cody, I never would have pegged you for someone who took to martial arts like a fish takes to water. You're a natural."

"You're just saying that, I bet you are just making it look like I'm throwing you properly."

"Actually I'm not. I haven't "let" myself get thrown like this since I was a blue belt. Well it's almost supper time what do you say we call it a day for this and we continue tomorrow?"

"I would love to. We can also see if you can win a match against me tomorrow in Kendo. You learned those strikes and blocks easily, and your speed is phenomenal."

"You're not too bad on the speed department yourself buddy." Apoclypse said as they took a quick shower in the locker room and changed into their regular clothes.

**In the sitting room…**

As everyone met up in the sitting room where they had agreed to meet when they split up for their tasks Apoclypse says, "So how did you all enjoy your first day at "camp"?"

"I still can't believe you actually made a working version of the Holo-deck," Joe started, "I was able to get "real" hands on experience with trauma cases that I have been needing practice with. And Yolei here was excellent. She was able to identify the items I needed quickly and handed them off properly. We "saved" six lives in the hour we were in there."

"Excellent. It seems that the berries tapped into both of your potentials rather well. How about the rest of you did you notice any other changes besides your speed?"

Mimi and Matt said that they had used a device that was in the Concert Hall that allowed them to figure out whether or not they were on key or whether or not they had messed up lyrics and had actually performed twelve songs perfectly including some very difficult guitar solos for Matt. Tai, Sora and Davis said that they had "The ROOM" load up the two top ranked teams in the world for soccer and had replaced three of the players on the top ranked team and had still won with each of them scoring 2 goals apiece. And that they intended to go back and run the same program but change sides tomorrow. Izzy and Ken relayed how they think they have come close to figuring out how to build an engine that can cause light speed travel and how to keep a ships integrity intact through the increased strain that the engine would put on it.

"Oh so they're doing Star Trek inside of a Star Trek device that's kind of Ironic don't you think Apoclypse?" Joe asked trying not to laugh and failing.

"Joe you must be a mind reader because I was thinking the same thing. But I'm actually surprised that they are so close to figuring out how to do it. Do me a favor Izzy, Ken and keep me posted on your progress. If you can figure it out I might have someone who will have an interest in talking with you two."

"Hey guys sorry were late." T.K. said walking in with Kari

"Yeah sorry, we were down by the far end of the lake and found a clearing where a bunch of animals were gathering around a wolf mother who was giving birth and we just couldn't leave. We were enthralled that so many animals would come to witness such a thing and they didn't even run when I took a picture of it. We decided to be the human witnesses of the event and waited until she had birthed all her pups." Kari said wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"That's ok Kari, we were just talking about what we all did today anyway while we wait for dinner to be ready." Tai said. Turning to Cody he asks, "So what did you and Apoclypse do today after you guys left?"

"Oh I showed him how Kendo works and taught him about it for an hour then for the rest of the time he trained me in the art of Kuk Sool Won, it means Korean National Martial Arts, and he says I'm a natural at it." Cody said beaming with pride.

"Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is served." Announced one of Jefferson's, subordinates leading the children and their Digimon to the dining room. As they were finishing dinner Apoclypse tells everyone that they are free to enjoy the arcade room, bowling alley, library, and T.V. room but that they should get to bed by midnight so they can be sure to get eight hours of sleep as breakfast would be served at 8:30 tomorrow.

As the group splits up to go to their preferred destinations Apoclypse pulls Mimi aside for a private word, "Mimi I must thank you once again for pulling me out of my nightmare. You see when you woke me up I was dreaming about what happened to me, you know when I got the scars, and well if you hadn't gotten me to wake up I think I might have had these wounds reopen and would have possibly died."

"It's ok Apoclypse I completely understand. I'm just happy I was able to save you…"

"Yes about that, remember the other day when you said "If there is ANYTHING you need while we train don't be afraid to ask." Well I was wondering if you would do me a small favor."

"I meant what I said, but there are obviously some things a girl just has to say no to."

"I think I know what you mean by "some" but I'm not asking for that. What I was going to ask is would you mind sleeping in my room with me for the rest of the time were here? So you can save me again if I have another nightmare. As you saw my bed is huge enough that we wouldn't even touch each other unless I started thrashing about to the point where I'm flying all over the bed, though I've never had one that bad happen."

"I don't know, I mean what would the others think if they saw us go into your room together and I didn't come out except to go to the bathroom?"

"Well I think that the only one who would be a jackass and think we are doing something dirty would be Davis…"

"Hey I heard that." Davis said revealing that he was behind the statue of a dragon and a knight near the dining room.

"Davis you dipshit this was supposed to be a private conversation." Mimi said as she, Palmon, Blood, and Apoclypse glared daggers at him.

"Sorry I wasn't trying to eaves drop but I dropped my lucky coin as we were walking out of the dining room and it rolled behind this statue. I was trying to get it out when Apoclypse said that about me."

"And we are supposed to believe that if you saw Mimi walking out of my room that you wouldn't have thought she and I were having an intimate relationship?" Apoclypse said sarcastically.

"Actually yes, I may be slow sometimes and constantly have my foot in my mouth because I don't know when to shut it. But I wouldn't have thought that of Mimi I respect her, and you, despite what you said about me, too much to jump to that kind of conclusion I might have thought she was just helping Blood wake you up again, especially after what you said at breakfast."

"Wow I don't know what to say." Mimi said shocked.

"I do, I'm sorry that I jumped to that conclusion about you Davis. With your track record of, how you said, "constantly having your foot in your mouth" I was lead to believe the worst. I will endeavor to not jump to conclusions about you in the future without sufficient data." Apoclypse said.

"That's, alright I know I make myself looks stupid sometimes. Mimi can I ask your, and Palmon's permission to use her Poison Ivy attack to just push my coin out from behind here I don't want to risk breaking the statue and my arms are not long enough to reach it."

"Go on Palmon," Mimi said turning back to Apoclypse she whispers, "I guess if he isn't going to be a weirdo about it I don't see any problem with doing this for you." Lowering her voice even lower so she is sure that only Apoclypse can hear she continues, "And if you want I'll even change you when you need it."

Blushing slightly Apoclypse says in the barest of whispers, "Thanks Mimi." With that Mimi and Apoclypse go to the arcade and enjoy a few rounds of some games before they head to his room to go to bed. Shutting the door behind them Mimi lays Apoclypse down on his changing table and changes his diaper, gently cleaning his private parts with some wipes and after applying a good amount of baby powder, puts one of the night time thickness ones on him. Crawling into bed Apoclypse, Blood, Palmon, and Mimi fall asleep rather quickly.

**Chapter 4**

**Two weeks later outside the computer lab…**

Mimi wondering where Apoclypse had gotten to searches the mansion and finally finds him as he is coming out of the computer lab with several envelops in his hand. "What were you doing Apoclypse?" She asked causing him to jump about a foot off the ground in shock.

"Oh Mimi, I was just writing the "progress reports" on how you and the others are doing here at "camp." I was also going to see if you and Matt were willing to put on a concert next week as I have invited all of your parents for "Parents Night" so they can see firsthand how their kids are doing."

"Well I would love to sing for my momma and papa. But why are you having a "Parents Night" it's not like this is a real summer camp?"

"True Mimi, however all of your parents think it is, and real summer camps have "Parents Night's" so to keep your cover I had to have one."

"So what are we all going to be doing for this then, obviously I'm going to sing and Matt will most likely be playing the acoustics for me while I do but what about the others?"

"Well we know that Tai, Sora and Davis have been using the room to get better at Sports so we will have them show off some of the skills they have gotten in various sports. Cody and I will be giving a demonstration of how I have learned Kendo and how he has advanced in another field of martial arts under my tutelage. Yolei and Joe will show how they are coming along with medical skills, obviously inside "The Room" as it would be unethical to injure real people for the sake of a demonstration. Izzy and Ken will show what they have invented inside "The Room." And I was thinking of having Kari and T.K. create a "new brochure" for this camp to make it look much better than the ones I gave to you for your parents to see, and to focus on all the different facilities we have to "help" kids reach their full potential." He said as Jefferson walked up to them carrying a phone on a silver tray.

"Young master your parents are on the phone and wish to speak with you." Jefferson said in a bored voice.

Taking the phone Apoclypse says to Mimi, "One moment Mimi I've learned it is never a good thing to keep my parents waiting on the phone." "Hello mother and father how are you this evening."

Trying not to eaves drop and failing Mimi hears from the other end, "Were ok honey we were just calling to let you know that we have finished our work in the city and will be coming to the mansion tomorrow. Don't worry we won't interfere with your "camp." We also got something we wanted to tell you that might cheer you up about what happened back home."

"Not meaning to be rude mother but how could you possibly cheer me up about what happened?"

"Well, we got a call last night from the mother of one of your friends, it turns out she knew about him being a Digidestined and is as supportive of him as we are of you. Anyway the news is your best friend Kitsuna wasn't killed." Hearing this Apoclypse drops the phone and puts his hand over his heart just above the scar. "Hello, honey, are you all right? Sweetie, answer me please."

Picking the phone back up Apoclypse says, "Mother did I hear you correctly? Did you really say that Kitsuna isn't dead? If this be a dream please don't wake me up and if I am awake please let me ne'er sleep again."

"Very poetic of you dear but no you didn't mishear me. Your friend Kitsuna is indeed alive and with his mother's permission is flying to Japan as we speak to spend the rest of the summer and all of the school year with us." Dropping the phone again Apoclypse falls to the floor in a dead faint from the shock of his mother's message.

"Apoclypse!" Mimi cried

"Young master!" Jefferson said shocked as he ran forward to check on Apoclypse.

"Apoclypse, Apoclypse are you there? Jefferson? Hello; Hello someone tell me what's going on." Apoclypse's mother's voice came franticly from the phone.

Picking up the phone Mimi says to Jefferson, "Make him comfortable and talk to his mother I'll go fetch Joe he is a medical student and almost has his degree. He will know what to do."

Minutes later Mimi, Joe and the others are running full tilt down the hall where Apoclypse had fainted, and seeing Jefferson sitting by him talking gently to him making him stay lying down they hear him say, "Young master I must insist that you stay put until the young lady gets back with your doctor friend. If you don't I will be forced to discipline you most severely."

"Alright already, you've made your point." Apoclypse said as he saw Joe walking over with his medical bag.

Opening his bag of medical supplies Joe pulls out his stethoscope, a blood pressure cuff and a small pen light and proceeds to examine Apoclypse. After a couple of minutes Joe says, "You'll be fine Apoclypse. There is nothing seriously wrong with you. What did your mother say that would have caused you to faint? Mimi said you fainted after your mother told you something but she wouldn't or couldn't tell us what it was."

Standing up slowly, with the help of Joe and Mimi, Apoclypse gathers himself and says, "Well…it…it seems…I'm not the only survivor of _his_ attack. Somehow my best friend survived as well and is flying to Japan as we speak. Mother and father are going to be picking him up at the airport tomorrow before they come here."

"But that's good news isn't it Apoclypse, I mean if your friend survived the attack too that could mean the monster isn't as powerful as you thought." Kari said reassuringly.

Sighing deeply Apoclypse says, shocking everyone with fear, "I guess there's no point in putting it off any longer. While all of you have made tremendous improvements on your combat skills and power, you just don't have any idea how far you have yet to go. I hope you all enjoyed your rest today cause were going to "The Room" right now and I'll show you just how powerful he is."

"Bu…Bu…But how are you going to show us without us getting hurt." Davis stuttered in fear.

Feeling his diaper swelling rapidly Apoclypse turns to Joe and says, "You explain how the safety measures of the Holo- deck work on Star Trek I'll be right back." And with that he grabs his bag that Jefferson had taken off his back when he fell and goes into the bathroom just down the hall to change into a thick diaper so he can take the others to "The ROOM" and train them harder than he has to date without stopping to change as often.

Upon returning to the others he sees that they are all still skeptical and says, "Come on guys this training session will show you what you're in for when we take on him in a year. Just take my word that you won't be hurt, at least not like I was, at most you'll just end up with a few scrapes."

**A few minutes later at "The Room"…**

Walking into "The Room" Apoclypse waits for everyone to get settled then says, "Computer Load program The Arena of Fate." As they wait for the program to fully load Apoclypse turns to the others and says, "None of you have defeated Blood in combat yet. Either one on one or in teams, this alone should give you an idea on how strong he really is." They all nod slowly as Apoclypse continues; "Well now you're going to see how powerful the creature is, Computer load combat enemy _him_ difficulty setting 1/1000 power." As the monster loads the others see for the first time what the creature looks like. Standing at twice the height of VenomMyotismon with three heads and three arms on each side each holding a different weapon in each hand the creature strikes fear into the Digidestined immediately. Brandishing its weapons the creature shows that it is holding Scimitar, a spiked flail, a cross tipped spear (which is what made the scar Apoclypse has) a Kama, and in its lower 2 hands a manriki chain ended with a lead ball on one end and a razor sharp point on the other.

Taking off his shirt Apoclypse turns to the others and says, "When we first met I showed you my scars, back then you wondered what could have made them and how I survived such an attack, well that spear in his middle right hand is what did this to me. You have all seen the Anime Yu-gi-oh. And you know how that when they "dueled" with those duel disks they felt the damage inflicted to their monsters although no real damage befell them unless it was a "shadow game" well the safety measures of the Holo-deck work the same way. And now you will face this bastard at 1/1000 of his REAL power. I'm truly sorry if I sound like an insensitive bastard at the moment but you all have to understand just how powerful this thing is. Blood will be in the battle too so don't feel like I'm just being cruel to you guys. This is a very important thing you must all learn, I had wanted to wait another couple weeks before I had you face him but this will help get the point across like nothing else. Now have your partners Digivolve to their highest level."

"Agumon Warp Digivolve to…WarGreymon." "Gabumon Warp Digivolve to…MetalGarurumon." "WarGreymon…MetalGarurumon DNA Digivolve to…Omnimon

"Gatomon Digivolve to…Angewoman."

"Patomon Digivolve to…Angemon, Angemon Digivolve to…MagnaAngemon."

"Gomamon Digivolve to…Ikkakumon, Ikkakumon Digivolve to…Zudomon."

"Tentomon Digivolve to…Kabuterimon, Kabuterimon Digivolve to MegaKabuterimon."

"Palmon Digivolve to…Togemon, Togemon Digivolve to…Lillymon."

"Biyomon Digivolve to…Birdramon, Birdramon Digivolve to Garudamon."

"Hawkmon Digivolve to…Aquilamon."

"Armadillomon Digivolve to…Ankylomon."

"Wormmon Digivolve to…Stingmon." "Veemon Digivolve to…ExVeemon." "ExVeemon…Stingmon…DNA Digivolve to…Paildramon, Paildramon Digivolve to…Imperialdramon Dragon Mode. Imperialdramon Dragon Mode mode shift to…Imperialdramon Fighter Mode. Imperialdramon Fighter Mode mode shift to Imperialdramon Paladin mode."

"CrimsonGatomon Warp Digivolve to…CrimsonSaberLeomon."

"Good now that your all at your full power let's see how you do." Apoclypse said causing the Digimon to launch themselves at the creature. As they get close the creature turns all three of its heads toward the group of advancing Digimon and smiles in a purely evil manner before launching a counter attack at them saying in a voice that made the air around them vibrate with uncontained power, "Chaos Scimitar, Doom Flail, Spear of Agony, Kama of slaughter, Manriki of destruction."

Right after the creature spoke its scimitar cuts Aquilamon out of the sky immediately sending him back to his in training form of Poromon. Ankylomon gets slammed with the lead weight of the Manriki chain and is knocked unconscious sending him back to his in training form of Upamon. The Doom Flail smashes into Garudamon, MegaKabuterimon and Lillymon knocking them back to their in training forms of Yokomon, Motimon and Tanemon. Spear of Agony impales MagnaAngemon sending him to his in training form of Tokomon while Kama of Slaughter cleaved Angewoman sending her to her in training form of Nyaromon, which shocked everyone.

While the others were knocked out and Dedigivolved; Omnimon, Imperialdramon Paladin mode and CrimsonSaberLeomon launched a counter attack at the same time yelling, "Transcendent Sword, Omnisword, Bloody Twin Fang." Catching the Transcendent Sword and Omnisword with its Chaos Scimitar and Kama of Slaughter respectively the creature successfully stops the attacks as its weapons disintegrate causing the Digidestined (with the exception of Apoclypse) to cheer, however their cheers are cut off as the weapons suddenly reform in the creatures hands and with an even bigger grin hits Omnimon and Imperialdramon full force with all of its weapons knocking them out and forcing them to Dedigivolve to their in training forms of Koromon, Tsunomon, DemiVeemon, and Minomon.

"Computer freeze program." Apoclypse said right after the creature kicked CrimsonSaberLeomon towards him Dedigivolving it to a CrimsonNyaromon. Catching his partner Blood Apoclypse asks, "Apart from being forced back into your in training form are you ok buddy?" Looking up at Apoclypse Blood says, "I guess so but I wish we could figure out a weakness of this bastard and soon." "I know buddy I do too."

Turning back to the others who were picking up their partners Apoclypse says, "Now that you have seen what this creature is like at 1/1000 of his power do you understand why I'm so scared." Dumbstruck with fear the others only nod.

After a couple of minutes Izzy says, "Apoclypse remember our first day here when you showed us footage of when we were "looking" for you in here. Can you possibly bring up the footage of our attempt to fight this monster and put it on a disc for me to analyze. I have a feeling there is something we missed during this fight."

"Sure Izzy, I hope you find something studying the data of the fight, some sort of weakness or anything that can help us. You have no idea the true fear I have of this creature." Apoclypse said walking over to a terminal in the wall to burn off a disc of the data Izzy requested. Handing the disc to Izzy Apoclypse says, "Now that you have faced him at a reduced power I must ask you…If I made a massive batch of the special juice would you want to risk the possible poisoning if it meant that we could attain the power to kill this thing once and for all. I won't force anyone to take the juice in large quantities but I feel that it is prudent to offer the choice. You all know how much you have improved just from what I gave you on the train, and that was two weeks ago."

"Before we answer I think you should tell us just how bad the poisoning could be. What is the worst case scenario if we end up poisoned?" Joe asked with an air of concern.

"Well Gennai said that the worst case scenario for humans is that it would make them permanently reduced in their mental capacity e.g. if say Izzy took it right now and became poisoned he would be reduced to the mental age of a junior high freshmen. For the Digimon it could result in them never being able to Digivolve or Dedigivolve again and their power would not increase past their current form. And if they take it in a high level form, for example if WarGreymon took it the strain of staying in his mega form at full power would cause his life to be drastically reduced. You don't have to answer me now; it is a very big choice to make. So what I'm going to do is give you the day off tomorrow from combat training. Feel free to pursue training in your "specialties" or just relax and think. At our meeting time tomorrow night give me your decision. For now though I think it is time we all went to bed." Apoclypse said pressing a button on the console shutting "The ROOM" down ending the program and making the arena and the creature disappear."

As Apoclypse walks into his room to get ready for bed Mimi shuts the door behind them and helps Apoclypse change into a clean diaper for bed. As she helps him off the changing table Mimi whispers, "umm…Apoclypse…"

Turning back to Mimi Apoclypse sees that she is looking at the floor with shaking pretty bad and says, "What is it Mimi, is there something you need me to do before we go to sleep?"

"Would…would you mind if…if I…that is to say can I…"

"You want me to put a diaper on you don't you?" Apoclypse asked softly

"Please don't think I'm weird for asking, but sometimes when I'm really scared or very stressed out I like to wear diapers to make me feel better. It's hard to explain it just makes me feel safe and warm inside…"

"Mimi there is no reason to explain I know all about how some people wear them as a form of psychological security blanket. And I don't think you're weird for asking. If you ever want to wear one just say so and I'll help you change into one." Apoclypse said giving Mimi a hug and helped her onto the changing table. Removing her panties Apoclypse pulls out one of his thick nighttime diapers and places it under her. Grabbing the bottle of baby oil he pours some into his hand and gently rubs it into Mimi's skin on her bottom and private parts, he then repeats the process with the baby powder. After he finishes rubbing the powder into her skin he pulls the diaper up between her legs and fastens the diaper snugly into place running his fingers through the waistband and leg holes checking for leak spots. Helping her off the table Apoclypse hands her back her panties and as she puts them on over her diaper he opens a drawer on the changing table and pulls out two pacifiers, one green and one red. Popping the red one into his mouth he offers the green one to Mimi who looks at it for a moment then shakily takes it and pops it into her own mouth. As they crawl into the bed Apoclypse wraps an arm around Blood and says, "Good night Mimi, I'm sorry that I scared you and the others so much by forcing you to fight _him_ at 1/1000 of his power today."

"That's ok Apoclypse I know why you did it and it's not like this is the first time we've been outmatched severely. I know we'll find a way to beat it." Mimi said wrapping her arms around Tanemon." Minutes later they fall into a restless sleep.

**Chapter 5**

While gently shaking Apoclypse in an attempt to wake him up Mimi says, "Apoclypse come on wake up your having another nightmare."

After about ten minutes of this Apoclypse comes out of his nightmare and looks at the clock showing that it is 4:00 am. "Sorry Mimi, that's what every night this week?"

"Yeah but after that training session last night I completely understand why you have these nightmares, and to be honest I had one too about that creature." Mimi responded checking Apoclypse's diaper and seeing that it was soaked helps him over to the changing table and puts him on it. Grabbing a fresh thick diaper from the shelf and some wipes Mimi quickly unfastens Apoclypse's diaper and wipes him down, then grabbing the baby oil and baby powder quickly applies it to his sensitive areas.

As she is pulling the diaper up between his legs Apoclypse says quietly, "Did your nightmare cause you to…you know…"

Feeling that her diaper is extremely bulky, much more so than when he put it on her last night, she says as she helped him off the table, "I think so…I mean I can't really tell but the diaper is bulkier than it was when you put it on me. Would you mind changing me?"

"Alright I'll change you." He said helping Mimi onto the table.

As he pulls her panties down so he can get to her diaper Mimi sees that Apoclypse is deep in thought and says, "Is there something wrong Apoclypse? You seem very distracted."

Pulling a diaper out from the shelf he replies, "Well I've been thinking about what mom said on the phone yesterday, and what Kari said about him not being as strong as we thought. You see if Kitsuna survived then maybe, just maybe, my cousin survived too. She was the one who actually got me to see that what I was doing as the Digimon Czar was wrong."

"Oh, if you don't mind could you tell me about her? That is if it's not too painful for you."

Fastening the Tapes on the clean diaper Apoclypse helps Mimi off the changing table and says, "Not at all Mimi. Where should I start? I guess I should describe her to you, her name is Crystal. She has Long forest green hair and royal purple eyes. Normally she is a soft spoken and somewhat shy girl but is really fierce when it comes to defending friends, family, and the defenseless. A few years ago, when we were seven, a burglar broke into her house and was ransacking the place looking for valuable items to steal when her father walked in. Sadly the burglar was armed and not wanting to be caught shot her father point blank killing him instantly."

"Dear god that must have been very traumatic to her and her mother, not to mention you and your parents seeing as you're related."

"It was Mimi, the shock of her father being murdered like that caused her to have a bed wetting problem, and mourning the loss of her father Crystal and her mother became exponentially closer to each other. Although she only needed to wear them to bed, her mother started diapering her during the day all the while showering her with love and affection."

"Did being made to wear diapers during the day have any side effects on her?"

"Not to my knowledge, however she eventually stopped wearing panties all together and accepted her role as a baby girl to be cared for by her mother while she was home."

"So when did she find out about being a Digidestined?"

"About a year ago, around the time I got my own Digivice and the Digiegg with blood in it she got her own egg and Digivice. The ironic thing is both of our Digimon are different colored Gatomon."

"Wow that is ironic. What color was her Gatomon?"

"Hers is a BlackGatomon that Digivolves into LadyDevimon, the weird thing is BlackGatomon is the reformatted version of the LadyDevimon that Tai and WarGreymon defeated on top of Infinity Mountain. We only know this because she was able to keep some of her memories, though she was a completely changed Digimon and stopped being evil, unless she was fighting then she turned ruthless."

"Whoa that is weird we thought that all Digimon that got reformatted went to the closest primary village."

"Normally Mimi they do we have no idea why she came to our primary village. Even weirder about BlackGatomon was that she was able to take her ultimate form of LadyDevimon at will even if Crystal was nowhere to be seen, even with a dark spire in the area. Anyway shortly after I started my reign as the Digimon Czar, Crystal was able to figure out I was the one behind the mask of the Digimon Czar and made me see what I had been doing was wrong."

"After our last fight with him I assumed that she like Kitsuna was dead, but if he was alive I have to hope that she is just missing. Like my own parents knowing about my Gatomon and being a Digidestined her mother knows about her being one too. Though she was very distraught after our fight with _him_ when I told her what happened. And even knowing that we might still be able to bring her back by beating him, she literally shut down and Mom and dad checked her into a mental facility to care for her while we work on a way to defeat that bastard."

Seeing that his tale had shaken him really bad Mimi hugs Apoclypse tightly and says in a calm reassuring voice, "I know it's hard to believe but, we will find a way to defeat him. This is not the first time most of us have confronted a powerful foe that seemed invincible."

"Mimi's right." Kari said from the doorway causing both Mimi and Apoclypse to jump about a foot of the ground. Turning around Apoclypse saw Kari, T.K., Davis, and Tai standing in the doorway. Cursing to himself he says, "Did I wake you guys up again?"

Before anyone else could say anything Tai said, "No, we were all awake talking about some data Izzy had compiled about our training when we heard your screams and Mimi trying to wake you."

"Tai, I respect you and all you've done but you have got to be the WORST liar I have ever met, though that would be a sign of an extreme virtue in many cultures. I'm sorry that I woke all of you up again." Apoclypse said in a tired and worn voice.

"Mimi why…"Davis started when suddenly "VEEHEADBUTT," Veemon said slamming his head into Davis's groin knocking the wind out of him. Taking the cue from Veemon Tai grabbed Davis by the legs and dragged him down the hall for a "private" talk.

"Thanks Veemon. I don't know what Davis was going to ask but I appreciate that you wanted to keep him from making himself looks like a moron again." Mimi said giving Veemon a pat on the head

"No problem, sometimes it is a pain being his partner but he is a good kid. He just needs to learn to keep his questions or comments unsaid once in a while." Veemon said startling a laugh from the others.

"In all seriousness though Apoclypse, Izzy really was awake compiling data he's collected and wanted to share with all of us. He said it's quite astounding and he doesn't want to pass up the opportunity to tell you if you were awake already." T.K. said.

With a sigh Apoclypse says, "Ok we can hear what Izzy has to say, why don't you go grab the others and bring them here."

After a minute T.K. returns and Apoclypse passes out the pillows he has in his sitting windows and passes them around so everyone has something to sit on then grabs some bottles of water out of the minibar next to his bed and gives everyone a bottle. "Alright Izzy, let's hear it." Apoclypse said taking a sip from his bottle.

"The data I wanted to talk about involves our "fight" with him. I have watched that video about fifty times from every angle that there was on the disc you gave me and I have noticed something interesting. As you know the creature has three heads and six arms, but what I noticed is that despite the fact that it seems to move as a unit and is a single hive mind state there are slight differences I've been able to pick up on. For instance when it attacked with the scimitar and flail, the spear and Kama attacks came a fraction of a second slower, and the Manriki chain came a fraction of a second slower than the Kama and spear attacks. This indicates that it is in fact not a hive mind or one mind but three separate minds working as a team, and each head controls one set of arms. The right side head, his right, controls the top two, the middle actually controls the bottom and the left side controls the middle."

"Great so we have to strategize for three separate beings that just happen to share a body instead of one creature." Tai said angrily as he came back into the room with Davis limping behind him

"That's actually what I was getting at Tai but it's not necessarily a bad thing. We could turn this to our advantage. Anyway as I was saying there were some other small things I picked up on while watching the data. I ran the data through a program Gennai gave me that allows me to record or play footage into it and get power readings of Digimon as they are doing whatever it is they are doing. When I ran the Data through it showed that the creatures power level spikes as it makes an attack with each weapon but after it attacks his power level drops drastically."

"Wait run that by me again." Apoclypse said eyes widening

"I said his power spikes when he makes an attack but afterwards it drops drastically. Anyway, the final thing I noticed when I ran the footage through my program was that even though his attacks knocked our Digimon to their in training forms their power didn't drop like it normally would. So later I want to run a few tests on each of our Digimon to test a few theories I have."

"Ok, so you have some neutral news with the data you've put together. Is there anything else that you have found that might be of use to us now?" Joe asked before finishing off his water.

"Well, actually yes Gennai sent me an email while I was working on the data that I compiled about our fight with him. We all know about the Digiarmor eggs that T.K., Kari, Yolei, Cody, and Davis have. But Gennai told me of something just as rare as and more powerful than the Digiarmor. He called them "the Sacred Digiweapons," and that they have been hidden for several millennia, that is to say, several millennia for them before time synchronized with our world. He has discovered the possible location of six of the weapons but warned me that they are heavily guarded by powerful Digimon and deadly traps. He went on to say that legend said that these weapons were created by the Digital Gods and only given to Digimon and their trainers in times of cataclysmic circumstances to balance the Digital world once again."

"That's fantastic news Izzy." Tai and Apoclypse said at the same time.

"When can we go looking for them?" Davis asked clenching his fist in anticipation.

"Easy there Davis I said he found the possible location of six weapons, he said he would contact me again once he had some more information but for now that we should keep training, and that he believes in us and Apoclypse to right the balance of the Digital world once again."

"Well I think we should all try getting a bit more sleep, we can discuss this more at lunch after we've all had time to think." At that everyone gets up and heads for their beds.

**Later that day as lunch was ending…**

"Alright so we have a partial plan in place. Once Gennai gets back to me with the locations of the Digiweapons we will send small teams in to try and acquire them at a time." Izzy said before he finished off his French fries.

"Young master, your mother just called from the limo and wished me to tell you that she, your father and master Kitsuna will be arriving at the front door in a couple of minutes. And that she wished for all of you to meet them in the entry hall for proper introductions." Jefferson said with his usual bored tone.

"Very well Jefferson well be there in a moment." Apoclypse said as he and the others got up from the table. As they settled themselves into the entry hall Apoclypse turns to the others and says, "Guys I don't know how I can explain it but I have a feeling that Kitsuna is going to want to deck me one for what happened. If this happens PLEASE do not interfere I intend to let him get his anger out. After all how would you feel if your best friend caused what I did and nearly got you all killed?"

With a quick glance at each other the rest silently agree and Joe says, "We promise not to interfere as long as you remain conscious and able to stand under your own power. Being a doctor I can't ignore my Hippocratic Oath. If you end up needing medical attention we will stop it and I will treat your injuries."

"That's fine, but I don't think it will come to that Joe." Apoclypse replied as the front massive front door opened revealing a tall red headed woman with shoulder length hair wearing a royal blue dress and six inch spiked heels of a deep blue. With her was a middle aged man of about six and a half feet tall with dark brown hair that was starting to recede and a build like that of a professional wrestler gone to seed, wearing a blue dress suit and a red tie with black wingtip shoes. Between them was a teenage boy of about 14 years wearing a pair of cream colored shorts and a beige shirt. His hair was snow white with an undertone of a very pale pink. They were laughing as they walked into the hall but when they got a few feet from Apoclypse the teen stopped laughing and walked right up to Apoclypse. For a moment they just stood there not saying anything. Then suddenly, the boy lashed out with his right fist connecting solidly with Apoclypse's face knocking him on his backside and sending him skidding across the floor back to the others.

"Kitsuna what the hell is the matter with you?" Apoclypse's mother screeched as Apoclypse stood up with blood flowing from his nose. Accepting a couple of wads of cotton from Joe Apoclypse quickly packs his broken nose and says, "Mother it is ok. Don't be mad at Kitsuna. And don't try to punish him for doing what he did. I have a feeling of why he punched me."

"You have no idea how much I wanted to do that Apoclypse. Furthermore you deserve much worse than a broken nose for the hell you have helped unleash onto us and the Digital world. But I'll content with just one hit." Kitsuna said angrily.

"I know Kitsuna, I know. It's all my fault and I can only beg for your forgiveness."

"Why do you think I broke your nose you dolt. That's my way of telling you I forgive you but also getting a bit of pent up frustration out. So are you going to introduce me to your "new team" or do I have to guess their names?"

"Right, well Kitsuna, mother, father I would like to introduce the Digidestined team who defeated Apocalymon a few years ago; Tai, his sister Kari, Joe, Mimi, Sora, Matt, his brother T.K., and Izzy. And their Digimon partners Agumon, Gatomon, Gomamon, Palmon, Biyomon, Gabumon, Patomon, and Tentomon. And these four are the newest members to their team Davis, Yolei, Cody and Ken. Their partners are Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and Wormmon. Guys this is my mother Dawnflare, my father Windspeaker, and Kitsuna my oldest friend."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all, if there is anything you need while were here don't be afraid to ask. You have a great challenge ahead of you and we are willing to help you in any way we can." Dawnflare said in a musical voice like wind chimes in a summer breeze.

"Yes, well you have much to discuss so we will excuse ourselves. We can get to know each other more at dinner until then I bid you all adieu." Windspeaker said with a voice like that of wind whispering through the treetops of a thick forest.

After leading everyone to the sitting room so they can get comfortable while they talk and get information from Kitsuna about how he survived Apoclypse submits to Joes pestering and lets him fix his broken nose.

"So 'Suna tell me how did you survive his attack and how come were just now reuniting?"

"I have no idea how I survived but as for why we are just now reuniting with each other that is simple. For the past six months I have been wandering around the Digital world with no idea of who I was. I had total amnesia and only had the barest of inklings of what I was."

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I must know, did your partner perish in the attack to save you. I'm sorry if it is painful to think about but I noticed that you didn't have a Digimon with you despite being a Digidestined." Davis said drawing glares from everyone in the room but Kitsuna.

"No, my Digimon didn't perish. I AM my Digimon."

"WHAT?" Everyone but Apoclypse cried

"It's hard to explain how it happened but shortly after my partner, a male Gatomon with five spikes on its ears and tail instead of the normal 3 and a tuft of pink hair on his head and light pink hair on his belly, started traveling with me during a battle we somehow merged into one being so now I can take the form of Gatomon at will and even Digivolve. It is a strange sensation but I am able to fight better than say Apoclypse can with blood in the sense that instead of just providing energy and verbal strategy I DO the actual fighting and can implement strategy on the fly. Anyway as I was saying before Davis interrupted. While I was roaming the Digital world I was barely managing to get enough food and water to survive. About a week ago Gennai found me collapsed from heat exhaustion and tended to me."

"So Gennai saved you like he did me, were there any side effects of our battle with him that you suffered other than temporary amnesia?

"Yes but I'll get to that in a moment." Kitsuna said turning a slight shade of red.

"When I finally woke up the next morning I remembered everything up to the point to where I had passed out. Gennai told me I was lucky to survive and that he had good news. He said I was not the only one to survive the battle. He told me how he had saved you the day we fought him and trained you on how to make a special brew from the berries that grew everywhere in our region, then he sent you off to Japan to train these guys to be strong enough to defeat him. As for any side effects, well…" Kitsuna said taking his shirt off revealing a long scar from his left shoulder to his right hip disappearing behind his pants and what everyone knew to be a diaper. As he began putting his shirt back on he exclaims, "Son of a bitch not again!" while turning a bright red.

"The room you want is down the hall third door on the right." Apoclypse said guessing what had caused his friend to exclaim like that.

"Thanks, I'll be right back." Kitsuna said grabbing his backpack and hurrying from the room.

A few minutes later Kitsuna comes back into the room and sits back down into his seat.

"'Suna I was wondering…did you…did you hear anything about…Crystal while you were roaming the Digital world." Apoclypse asked nervously.

"I'm sorry Apoclypse but no, I haven't heard anything about Crystal. I wish I did at least that way we could be close to being at full strength again. I feel lost without her."

"So do I buddy, so do I. Well I guess we should fill you in on what we've done so far and found out."

Several hours later they had just finished catching Kitsuna up on what happened and what their current plan was when Izzy's laptop signaled that he had an email.

"Digidestined I have found the exact location of the Digiweapons and have information about what you can expect at each location. The list of each temple's location and their traps is attached to this email. Good luck and take care."

"Well that's lucky. I'll need some time to compile the data Gennai just sent but I should be done by tomorrow morning. In the meantime I think we should give Apoclypse our answers about taking a large dose of the potion. Personally I can't justify the risk so I will have to pass on the large dose." Izzy said

"I understand Izzy, how do the rest of you feel." Apoclypse asked turning to the others. Tai, Matt, Joe, Sora, T.K., Kari, Cody and Yolei all agreed with Izzy and decided to abstain from taking a large dose of the potion. But to everyone's surprise Davis said, "Despite being very risky I think at least one of us should take the chance, I'll take it, Veemon I won't force you to take it with me you have to choose yourself, as do the rest of you Digimon. We have no right to force you to take the potion and I think that you should consider how your partners feel about it before you choose."

"Davis you should know that we do everything as a team by now, if you do it I'll do it." Veemon said eagerly.

"Very well I'll make some while the rest of you eat dinner then we can test the results of the potion on you in "The ROOM" afterwards.

**Later at "The ROOM"…**

"Computer load training program Sigma Six." Apoclypse said causing "The ROOM" to create an obstacle course that was a mile long and two stories tall. "Ok Veemon we're going to get a base reading of your skills right now by having you run this obstacle course. The path is clearly marked so just follow it as fast as you can. We're going to time you on this run then after you drink the potion well time you again to see how much you have changed."

"Right." Veemon said taking position at the starting/finish line.

"Ready….GO." Apoclypse yelled watching as Veemon ran down the ramp towards the first obstacle, a rope swing over a large pit of mud.

Without losing any momentum Veemon grabs the rope and flies over the pit of mud continuing down the path towards his next obstacle, a tire grid followed by a black tunnel that came out half a mile down where Veemon would be able to turn around to come back on the return path.

"Wow he is making good time. If he keeps this up he will set a new course record." Apoclypse said watching as Veemon flew across the monkey bars like he had done them his whole life. As Veemon approached the ramp where the others were standing the middle path of the ramp started moving like a treadmill and bars rose upon the sides funneling Veemon towards the quickly moving treadmill ramp. Setting a look of determination on his face Veemon pushes himself for all he is worth and gets up the ramp in ten seconds. "AND TIME. Damn Veemon you almost beat Bloods speed record you only missed out by one second. You ran the whole 2 miles of course in 14:56 seconds." Apoclypse said to a heavily panting Veemon.

"That…that was…tough. Can…can I have… a minute…before…I drink the potion and…do this…again?" Veemon asked panting heavily.

"Sure thing Veemon it will give me time to have Davis run the course to get his base reading. You ready Davis?" Apoclypse said looking over to Davis

After stretching his muscles a bit Davis steps up to the starting line and at Apoclypse's signal takes off like a shot. A few minutes later Davis crossed the finish line with a time of 14:58 panting heavily from lack of breath.

"Very nice Davis you and Veemon are very quick. Alright Veemon are you ready to see how the potion affects you?" Apoclypse asked.

"Ready as ever Apoclypse." Veemon replied accepting the 2 gallon jug Apoclypse passed him and drinks it all quickly trying to avoid the vile taste as much as possible. Once he finished the jug Veemon steps up to the line and takes off like a bat out of hell when Apoclypse gave the signal. When Veemon got to the halfway mark this time around he felt something strange happening and suddenly took his form of Ex-Veemon without even meaning too and crossed the finish line in thirty seconds.

"Well I guess we don't need to look at the time it is quite obvious that the potion didn't cause a power drain. Ex-Veemon try Dedigivolving would you."

"Ok…hmm I can't seem too…I wonder what if we had the others beat the crap outta me so I end up being power drained. Maybe then I'll be able to Dedigivolve."

"Ok guys you heard him he wants you guys to beat the daylights out of him until he is totally drained." Apoclypse said turning to the other Digimon. After about ten minutes of the other Digimon beating up on him Ex-Veemon returns to his rookie form of Veemon.

"Well it looks like that you and Gatomon are the same now; you only take your rookie forms when you're drained. Davis you ready to take your share?"

Taking the second jug from Apoclypse Davis chugs it all down and after draining it lets out a long loud burp. "Excuse me" he said passing the jug back to Apoclypse. Taking his place at the starting line he waits for Apoclypse to give the signal to start, Davis takes off and runs the course in the same time that he had on his first attempt which prompted Apoclypse to say, "well there seems to be no physical changes so I guess we need to run a few mental tests."

"There is no need Apoclypse I can tell you without a doubt I have changed mentally. I see things clearer than I did before. New insights on things I have done, ideas abound. It's like somebody opened the floodgates to knowledge in my mind."

Hearing what Davis said Kari thinks to herself, "I bet he is just faking having these new intellect to keep us from worrying about how bad the side effects are."

"No Kari, I assure you that I am not faking the new intellect to keep you guys from worrying."

Shocked Kari says, "but…but…but how…how the hell did you do that I didn't say anything I only thought that."

Pushing his glasses higher onto his nose Joe says, "It appears that along with an increased intellect Davis has acquired the power of telepathy."

"Well now that you two have shown what the potion did for you I guess we can all head off to bed. Well meet up in the sitting room after breakfast to discuss how were going to go about looking for the sacred Digiweapons." Apoclypse said shutting down "The ROOM"

Upon reaching his room Apoclypse sees that a second bed was set up in there and guessed who the bed was for. Shutting the door behind him, Mimi, and Kitsuna Apoclypse says to Kitsuna, "You probably guessed this 'Suna but after our battle with him I was rendered Incontinent, I figured that's what caused you to curse earlier when we were talking in the lounge. So if you need a change don't be afraid to ask." Apoclypse said as he helped Mimi onto the changing table to put a nighttime diaper on her. Once he was done Mimi changed Apoclypse and cleaned him up.

Once she was done she turns to Kitsuna and says, "So you need a change or you good for now?"

"I'll be fine for the night. I'm still really embarrassed about needing them. Umm, if you don't mind, could you say why you sleep in here instead of with the girls?" Kitsuna said slightly turning red from embarrassment.

"After we found out about Apoclypse having dreams that cause physical ramifications I offered to sleep in here to help wake him in the event that he has one of his nightmares. Which he has had every night since we got here. You should know that it's always the same dream 'Suna, he constantly relives the fight with him. He really regrets what he caused when he built those dark spires." Mimi said calmly

Looking at Apoclypse Kitsuna says, "I've been having nightmares ever since Gennai helped me regain my memories too."

As they all get into bed Apoclypse says, "Good night guys, and 'Suna once again I'm extremely sorry for what I've caused."

"Forget it Apoc, I know you didn't mean to cause any of this. Now let's get some sleep. I have a feeling that Izzy is going to have a lot for us to do tomorrow."

**Chapter 6**

**In a black castle nestled between two volcanos…**

"AncientSphinxmon, Crystal, attend us in the throne room at once." A giant three headed, six armed figure roared sitting on a throne made of the remains of several SkullGreymon. As it waited for the two to enter it gazed around at the walls made of black iron, with figures carved into them shaped like Digimon and humans being crushed under foot or driven before slave handlers. Looking higher up the wall the creature sees that the fires of the volcanoes that housed their fortress of terror were acting up again and made a note to have some of their less brave minions stand watch on the highest ramparts and towers, so that they could feast on the fear that the minions would undoubtedly provide them with.

"You summoned us masters?" The black Digimon that looked like a sphinx asked as he and a human girl walked into the throne room of the castle.

"I did my loyal minions. I need you two to go to the Temple of the Eight Gods of Server to guard it from intruders. It appears that Gennai has informed those pesky kids of the contents inside. They must not be allowed to attain the secrets of the temple. DO NOT FAIL US. If you do you will know the true meaning of pain, fear, and despair." The colossal three headed figure said pointing with his six arms at the Sphinx and the girl with green hair standing next to it.

"We will not fail you masters." The two said in unison bowing to the colossal figure.

As the two turn around to leave the creature says, "One more thing. To show we are not entirely heartless in sending you two off to guard the temple alone, we give you this to aid you." Turning back toward their master they see that they are holding a pair of black sai in their lower right hand. "These are the Corrupted Sai of Knowledge. Their power will quintuple the defensive power of your partner, while doubling his physical power. You must wield them for their power to work Crystal, now go we are tired and wish to sleep."

"Thank you masters we will use them well." The girl said accepting the weapons.

In the bedroom of Apoclypse, Mimi, and Kitsuna…

"CRYSTAL!…" yelled Apoclypse sitting bolt upright in his bed waking Mimi and Kitsuna with a start and causing Blood and Palmon to jump up into a fighting position.

"What the hell man I was just about to score the winning goal in that dream why did you have to go and ruin it." Kitsuna said sleepily with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Very funny 'Suna." Mimi said looking at Apoclypse and seeing that he was shaken but not like he normally was after one of his nightmares. "Was it the same nightmare Apoclypse?" she asked concerned.

"No. No it was different. This time he was sitting on a throne of gigantic bones, like dinosaur bones. And he was talking to two of his minions. He told them to go to the Temple of the Eight Gods of Server to guard it against us. One was a human and the other was a Digimon I've never seen before. But I could swear that the human was Crystal. What's more is that it didn't feel like a normal dream or nightmare, it felt real like it was actually happening." Apoclypse said palms pressed to his eyes while trying to remember more details.

"Seriously… you saw Crystal. But what could this mean; is she serving him out of fear or does he have some sort of control over her? This just doesn't make any sense." Kitsuna said rubbing the back of his neck in confusion.

"I don't know much about dreams…"Mimi started, "but when the others and I were in the Digital World the first time T.K. and I would have strange dreams that would either later come true or lead us down a path we needed to go. Perhaps this dream might be like that. If it is at least you know Crystal is alive and well despite serving him. For now let's go back to sleep. Mayhap by the time we meet in the lounge Izzy will be ready to send us to our destinations." Mimi said yawning.

"I…I guess…your right…Mimi…no point in…worrying about it now." Apoclypse said yawning profusely.

**Later in the lounge…**

"Digidestined, I'm glad I was able to catch you before you went to the Temple of the Eight Gods." Gennai said from Izzy's computer, "While my last message confirmed that the temple will lead you to eight of the sacred weapons there seems to be a powerful barrier around the temple and what appear to be an additional eight barriers inside the temple at the location of the eight points of the compass. I also found some additional information that will aid you on your journey into the temple. It appears that those barriers inside are surrounding "gateways" that lead to the shrines of each god. If you find a way to get to each shrine you will be tested by the god whose shrine you are at to see if you are worthy of obtaining the weapon they hold. Also the temple seems to only allow no more than four people inside at once, not counting Digimon. Good luck children you will need it."

"Well if only four of us can go at one time we will have to decide who will team with whom." Izzy said looking at the others.

With a quick look at Mimi and Kitsuna, Apoclypse says, "Izzy if you and the others don't mind I would like to take Mimi and Kitsuna with me to the temple first."

"I don't mind but might I ask why Mimi? I mean I figured you would want to team with Kitsuna as he is your oldest friend and you two are used to working together." Tai asked watching Apoclypse closely.

"Well you see Tai…" Mimi started, "This morning Apoclypse had a "vision" like nightmare and disclosed its contents to 'Suna and I."

"Wait you had a vision?" Davis said

"Well I don't know if it was a vision or not Davis but I wouldn't be surprised if it was, it felt so real. I dreamed of him again but this time it wasn't the battle that nearly killed 'Suna and I. This time he was on a throne of SkullGreymon bones in a black castle nestled between two active volcanoes. He summoned a Digimon and a girl to his presence. I could swear that it was Crystal that he summoned, it looked so much like her, yet it didn't at the same time. He sent the girl and Digimon to "guard" the temple were about to go to. And if this dream was a vision then Izzy was right about it being three separate entities that share a body, because he kept referring to himself as "us" and "we"." Apoclypse said gauging the others facial response to what he said.

"Very well, you, Mimi and Kitsuna will be the first group to go. We'll monitor your progress from the computer. While you three are inside we will decide who will make up the other teams." Izzy said standing up

**A short time later at the clearing of The Temple of the Eight Gods…**

"Do you hear that Crystal?" AncientSphinxmon said growling deeply to the girl with long forest green hair wearing a red headband and a black and purple top with a pair of black jeans on which barely failed to hide the bulge of her diaper and a pair of knee high black boots that zipped up on the sides.

"Yes, kitty I did hear it. It seems the master was right and we are about to have some "company" to entertain us." Crystal said with a sinister voice.

Walking out of the trees Apoclypse, Mimi and Kitsuna stop dead staring right at Crystal. For a moment nobody says a thing, then speaking slowly Apoclypse says, "Crystal… is that really you?"

"Who the hell are you and how do you know me. I warn you the masters have charged me with guarding this place from all intruders so if you value your lives I suggest you don't take another step." Crystal said in a menacing tone.

"Crystal it's me, Apoclypse, your cousin. Don't you remember me and Kitsuna?" Apoclypse said clearly worried.

"My cousin Apoclypse is dead, he and Kitsuna died at the hands of my masters when the three of us foolishly chose to oppose them. They spared our lives, Kitties and mine, with the condition that we serve them forever."

"Crystal they lied to you I am alive, Kitsuna is alive…" Apoclypse started but was cut off when AncientSphinxmon launched himself at the three. Blood acting quickly warp Digivolved to SaberLeomon while Kitsuna took his fursona of the male Gatomon and quickly Digivolved into Knightmon to help SaberLeomon hold off AncientSphinxmon. "Apoclypse, Mimi we will hold off AncientSphinxmon while we can. You do what you can to get through to Crystal." Kitsuna yelled as he deflected a laser beam shot by AncientSphinxmon with his sword.

Running over to Crystal Apoclypse continued to try and get her to see the truth when she suddenly pulled out the Corrupted Sai of Knowledge and struck out at him. "I told you not to come closer now I'm going to have to kill you." She said viciously.

"Mimi quick, find me something I can use as a staff. I can evade her attacks but only for a short time it will be easier if I have something to fight with." Apoclypse said as he dodged the thrusts and slashes Crystal was making with the Sai.

Looking around quickly Mimi couldn't find anything on the ground so she had Palmon use her Poison Ivy attack to snap a decently thick branch off the closest tree, and with a few good kicks she broke off the excess branches from it she fashioning a rough staff. As Apoclypse gets Crystal turned just enough so he can see Mimi, Mimi tosses the branch to him. Catching the makeshift staff one handed Apoclypse quickly goes into a modified front stance with his staff and says, "Crystal snap out of it I don't want to hurt you."

Thrusting her Sai at his heart she says, "Hurt me, you fool there is only one person besides the masters who was ever able to beat me when I wielded the Sai and he is dead."

Using the staff to block and parry her strikes Apoclypse says, "Damn it Crystal I know your father taught you how to fight, just as he taught me. How do you think that honorable man, the greatest cop in the history of our home state, would feel if he saw you using your skills to attempt to KILL another human being, to kill your own cousin?"

Staggering from these words Crystal fails to block the strike that would disarm her. Landing on her back a few feet from the Sai Crystal struggles to get to her feet when Apoclypse leaps onto her chest and holds her down. "NO…It's not possible that you're my cousin. He's dead."

"Crystal, remember who you are. Do you think your father would want you to serve a creature that is hell bent on destroying or enslaving mankind? He instilled a great sense of honor and justice into you and me. When he died you vowed to make him proud, that you would take all he taught you and become a police officer as renowned as he was. Do you think that will happen if HE wins? Damn it Crystal I know you're not this weak to be controlled so easily." Apoclypse pleaded while using all his strength and skill to keep her pinned.

Freezing in her attempts to get free Crystal says, "Nobody knew about that vow…no one but my cousin Apoclypse." Looking closer into his face Crystal sees through the fog in her mind that it really is her cousin. "Apoc…it…it is you. But how did you survive…" Suddenly Crystal started screaming in pain as she thrashed about underneath Apoclypse.

Rushing over to Apoclypse Mimi has Palmon wrap Crystal up tight so she can't hurt herself or anyone else and then pulls out her Digivice aiming its screen at Crystal.

"Mimi what the heck…" Apoclypse began when Mimi's Digivice let out a bright burst of white light. As the light bathed Crystal Apoclypse sees a shadow burst from her body and disappear into nothingness causing Crystal to faint. "Mimi what was that." Apoclypse finally said after a few moments.

"Well when we, that is to say Tai, Matt, Sora, Joe, T.K., Izzy and I first went to the Digital World we found out that our Digivices had the ability to free a Digimon from mind control, I took a chance and tried using it on Crystal in the same way we used it to free Leomon from the power of the black gears mind control effect."

Just then Kitsuna (still in the form of Knightmon), Blood, and AncientSphinxmon walk over. "Is Crystal ok Apoclypse? Please tell me she is free of the control of him." AncientSphinxmon said in a calm voice.

"Wait you KNEW that she was being controlled the whole time and you didn't say anything? Why the hell did you attack us if you knew who we really were?" Kitsuna snapped at AncientSphinxmon.

"Please forgive me Apoclypse, Kitsuna. You know that I vowed to stay by her side and protect her as Blood vowed to stay by yours Apoclypse. We really did think that you and Kitsuna had died in our last battle with him and she fell easily into his mind control out of grief and despair. I followed her without his power forcing me to, to protect her from all harm. When you showed up I couldn't believe my eyes and was blinded by my loyalty and love for crystal."

Groaning lightly Crystal slowly opens her eyes to see Apoclypse and Kitsuna hovering over her. "Apoc…'Suna…it…it really is you. I can't believe it I thought you had been killed." Crystal said tears streaming down her face and wrapping her arms around both of them.

"Easy there Crystal." Kitsuna started, "just take it easy. Do you remember anything after our fight with him?"

Hiccupping from crying so hard Crystal says, "I…*hic* I remember *hic* everything. These past six months *hic* have…have been a real *hic* hell. At first he t…tortured *hic* me until he bro…broke my wi… *hic* will. One…once he ha…had muh…my *hic* loyalty. He…he made me...*hic* do such ho…horrible *hic* things. I do…don't wan…want to talk abou...*hic* about them."

After a while Crystal starts to calm down and tells them what she knows about the temple and gets introduced properly to Mimi. Gathering up the Corrupted Sai she says, "These sai are actually one of the legendary weapons mentioned in the prophecy, somehow he got his hands on them and corrupted their power severely causing them to take on a dark purpose. Although the base powers of these Sai are still inside I have no idea how to purify them. To get to each shrine one must use one of the Sai as a form of key to drop the barrier surrounding the temple to even get inside. Apoc, 'Suna, Mimi are you three ready to go inside to find your rightful weapons? Once your inside you will know which path each of you must take for you will be "drawn" to the proper shrine. After you three take the telaporters of your shrines to be tested and acquire your weapons the other telaporters will shut down for a few days to regain power."

"Right, you two go ahead I'll stay here and watch over Crystal while you two take your tests then I'll take mine after one of you comes back." Apoclypse said giving his cousin another tight hug showing just how relieved he was that she was alive.

"Are you sure Apoclypse?" Mimi said seeing the solemn look on his face. "Alright you take care of Crystal. We'll be back as soon as we can." At that Mimi and Kitsuna go into the temple.

"You know Crystal, mom and dad will be so happy to see you. They might even baby you for a while if you wanted just out of relief that you are alive." Apoclypse said stroking her long forest green hair trying to comfort her.

"That…*hic* that would be fun. So how…*hic* how's mom?"

Sighing deeply knowing he was about to upset Crystal even further, Apoclypse says, "Well…"

**Chapter 7**

"Hold on Mimi, I'll have you out of there in a moment." Kitsuna yelled to Mimi trapped on the other side of the wall that had risen between them.

"…itsu…an…ou…ear…me…" came Izzy's voice which was very garbled.

"Izzy is that you? Your barely coming through I think there is something interfering with your transmission."

"…all…is…art...test…epeate…wall…part…test."

"Did you say the wall separating Mimi and I is part of the test that we have to face?"

"…es…it's…par…f…test."

"Alright, thanks Izzy. Mimi I guess we have to continue on without each other this seems to be part of our tests. Be careful and good luck." Kitsuna yelled through the wall.

"You be careful too 'Suna Apoclypse would never forgive us if either of us got hurt."

**Mimi's path…**

"Palmon I don't know about you but these traps are really starting to get on my nerves." Mimi said as she stood back up from falling after jumping backwards to avoid a volley of darts going from the left side wall to the right.

"Yeah I'm starting to get annoyed too but at least these darts weren't poisoned." Palmon said pulling one of the darts out of her butt.

"Do you hear that? It sounds like someone is calling my name." Mimi said suddenly walking down the hall towards the split in the path.

"Careful Mimi we don't know what else is in here waiting for us." Palmon said running to catch up.

As Mimi got close to the fork in the path there was a blinding flash of light. When their vision cleared Mimi and Palmon saw two figures of what look like angles hovering in front of them. One is solid black the other is pure white. "Palmon I have a bad feeling about this." Mimi said as the two figures descended to stand in front of them.

"Human we are the guardians of sincerity and selfishness." The white figure began. "We know of your journeys in the digital world as the digidestined of sincerity. You seek the sacred weapon of sincerity to defeat the most powerful evil to ever come to the Digital World. Ahead lays the teleportation device to the shrine of the God of Sincerity. To get there you must take one of the paths behind us. The correct path will reward you with the Crossbow of Sincerity; the wrong path will yield the Crossbow of selfishness. Both will be able to aid you in defeating the evil; however the bow of selfishness comes at a terrible price, one that a person of pure heart and sincerity would never willingly pay. To divine the correct path you must pass a test of your sincerity."

"What do we have to do?" Palmon asked nervously.

"The test is simple you must listen to our advice and determine who is sincere and who is the deceiver." The black angle said.

"My path lies to the right while my brother's is to the left. Furthermore, when asked questions one of us always lies while the other tells only truth. " The white angle said.

"You are permitted only ONE question to determine which path is the one you seek." The black angle finished.

"Mimi I don't like this, it feels wrong. How are we ever going to figure out who is the deceiver?"

Grinning from ear to ear Mimi answers quietly, "Palmon don't worry. I used to play games like this with my cousins all the time. This was one of my favorite puzzles. They gave us most of what we need to know to figure out who is the liar already."

"They did, but… oh this is just too confusing." Palmon said rubbing her vines across the back of her head.

"It's simple Palmon. We know that the white angle said his path is to the right, while the left supposedly belongs to the black. We are also only allowed one question like they said. We also know that one always lies while the other tells the truth so if we ask them "are you the deceiver" or any variation of that type of question they will always say no." Mimi whispered to Palmon

"Yeah, ok, so how does that help us?" Palmon whispered back.

"Simple Palmon," Mimi started as she turned to the white angle, "If I were to ask your brother who the deceiver is which of you would he say?"

"He would say that I was the deceiver. Now that you have asked your one question it is time to choose your path." He said as he and his brother faded from view.

"Let's go Palmon." Mimi said walking down the path on the right.

**Meanwhile back with Kitsuna…**

"Damn it that really smarts." Kitsuna said rubbing the spot on his head where a rock the size of a dodge ball had hit him from one of the traps he accidently activated. "If I keep setting off these traps there won't be anything left of me to fight him let alone hold a sacred weapon." He continued talking to himself.

Suddenly from down the passage he hears a deep growling sound that makes his hair stand on end. Inching himself closer as quietly as he can Kitsuna gets to the point where the path curves around a corner and he slowly peers around to see what could be making the sound. Standing in the middle of the path is what appears to be a creature that was made from parts of other living things. It had the head and torso of a great lion, a tail in the form of a giant serpent, and the legs and horns of a goat. Thinking back to his mythology lessons when he was in school studying Greek history Kitsuna inches back around the corner in a cold sweat. He knew that Chimera's were one of the deadliest beasts of Greek mythology and here was one standing between him and his goal.

"Human. HUMAN I know that you are there. I can smell your fear and your very full diaper. It disgusts me. I am the guardian of courage. My kind has guarded treasures for gods for time immemorial; though we mainly dwelled in Greece I was chosen as the strongest of my kind to guard the treasure of the God of Courage. If you seek to claim the weapon I guard you must defeat me in combat. You have one minute to choose." The Chimera said in a rough voice

Weighing his options and what he "knew" about Chimeras powers based from mythology Kitsuna turns into his fursona and immediately takes his ultimate form of Knightmon. "I have no choice if I wish to get that weapon to help me save the Digital World I must get past you by any means necessary." Kitsuna said with a slightly echoing voice due to his helmet.

Taking a sidelong defensive stance Kitsuna braces himself for battle. For a moment the Chimera and Kitsuna just stare at each other then suddenly with blinding speed the Chimera launces itself at Kitsuna and lashes out with his talons. Raising his sword quickly, Kitsuna blocks the attack with the flat of his blade and forces the beast back with a powerful thrust. Following through with the opening that he created Kitsuna charges at the Chimera and slashes at it with his blade; jumping back to avoid the slash the Chimera counter attacks by striking out with its talons, and while Kitsuna is distracted by them wraps his tail around Kitsuna's neck.

"You fight bravely human but you made one fatal mistake, and that was challenging me." The Chimera growled as he pulled Kitsuna closer with the strength of his tail.

Struggling to breath Kitsuna says, "I…can't let…you…stop…me…I… must…win…to…protect…my…friends."

Suddenly the Chimera releases Kitsuna from his strangle hold, dropping him to the floor saying, "despite your imminent death you would still struggle to fight on. To protect the ones you hold dear you would sacrifice yourself. Yes…yes you will do nicely. Go; follow this passage to the teleportation device. Once you arrive at the shrine you will be given that which you seek. The power to protect the ones you love." At the last the Chimera disappears from view.

Changing back into his human form Kitsuna gets to his feet slowly and proceeds down the path towards the telaporter.

**Outside the temple…**

"Crystal, please calm down, please." Apoclypse pleaded with his very distraught cousin who was in a full blown fit after being told that her mother was in a mental health hospital because she shut down after hearing that her only daughter might have died in the Digital World.

"Buh…buh…but how…how cou…could you and auntie and uncle jus…just…leave mommy...in…in a p…p…place lie…like that." Crystal sobbed into Apoclypse's shirt

"Crystal please, you know mother and father would never just dump her into any old place. We took care of her ourselves until we found the best mental care facility in the country. She is getting the best care possible. Now please calm down. Look you've gotten yourself so worked up that you completely filled your diaper. Just lay back and let me take care of you ok." Apoclypse said in a calming voice.

Wiping her eye on her sleeve Crystal lies back on the grass and lets Apoclypse change her. Despite being very upset she can't help but feel a sense of peace with the way her cousin swiftly, lovingly, and competently changes her into a clean diaper. As he finishes taping the clean diaper into place Crystal says, "Pocky...when we go back to the real world. Do you think you could make me some of your pancakes? They always cheer me up 'cause they are so yummy."

"Of course I will. I know the past six months have been a nightmare for you. Hell they were for me and Kitsuna too so if you want anything at all just say so and I'll make sure you get it. I can't imagine how horrible it was being forced to be his slave." Apoclypse said giving Crystal a big hug.

Suddenly with a loud boom, like that of a crack of thunder, Mimi with Palmon and Kitsuna reappear holding a pair of weapons in their hands. Mimi's was an intricately carved crossbow made of what appeared to be white oak and ivory trimmed with gold, while Kitsuna held a Katana that had a blade five feet long and was glowing with a ghostly grey aura and appeared to be made of a red metal."

"'Suna, Mimi, your back I take it all went well inside?" Apoclypse said standing up and helping Crystal to her feet.

"Well despite a wall springing up between Mimi and I separating us, the traps giving me a slight concussion and being strangled half to death by the giant snake of a real Chimera's tail, yeah all went well for me; How about you Mimi?"

"Well after we got separated Palmon and I only had one close call with a trap then we had to solve a puzzle given to us by a pair of angles, one was solid black the other was pure white. We had to figure out which one of them was a deceiver because they said while both paths would lead to a weapon that would give us the power to stop him, one would come at a terrible price for someone who was of pure and sincere heart. Luckily I was able to deduce the solution to their puzzle easily as I played games like that with my cousins back home. I was rewarded with the crossbow of sincerity."

"That's amazing… 'Suna what is that sword you're holding?" Crystal asked

"After my tests I was rewarded with the Masamune of Courage; A blade supposedly more powerful than Excalibur." Kitsuna said proudly holding the blade across his shoulder casually.

"Kitsuna, Mimi, Apoclypse can you guys hear me?" Izzy's voice came from the air around them.

"Yeah we hear you loud and clear Izzy, it seems the interference is only inside the temple. What's up?"

"I've got bad news; it seems our parents have decided to come up for a visit a week early. They will be arriving here tomorrow. We need to re-plan what we are going to show them for our "parents' night" showcases to be able to keep our cover story." Izzy said keeping a cool head.

"Right, just give me twenty minutes to go inside the temple and get my weapon, Blood and I can run fast enough to make it there and back in that time. By the way Izzy, have one of the others tell mother and father that we have another guest joining us in the mansion, and I'll explain everything as soon as we get back."

"Ok Apoclypse, Tai is running off to do that now, be careful."

"Right, come on Blood, let's get in there and pass the trials quickly." Apoclypse said rushing off into the temples entrance with Blood sprinting beside him in his IceLeomon form.

After about fifteen minutes of running in the temple following the path that was lit up for them Apoclypse and Blood stop for a moment to catch their breath when a beautiful woman dressed in a golden silk Kimono comes around the corner.

"Apoclypse, Blood, welcome to the Temple of the Eight Gods of Server, I am the guardian of love. Normally one would have to pass my tests to be granted the privilege of seeking the Staff of Love. However while your two friends were in the temple searching for their weapons I was watching you, at first I wondered why you had not come inside to seek your own weapon. But seeing how you cared for that poor girl and how much you love her, even if she is family, I have deemed it unnecessary to test you for your weapon. If you follow the path at the same speed you were running when you entered you will be at the telaporter within a couple of minutes. Now go, attain your weapon and the power you need to defeat the evil that comes to destroy our two worlds."

Minutes later Apoclypse and Blood reappear outside the temple with a silver staff about six feet long and two inches wide in hand. "Right now that we have what we came for lets go home.

**Chapter 8**

**7:30 a.m. in the dining room…**

Windspeaker approached Apoclypse as he and the other digidestined exited the dining room. "Apoclypse my son, please excuse yourself from your friends, there is something that I need to discuss with you."

"As you wish father" Apoclypse said. Excusing himself from the others, he made his way over to his father.

"As you learned last night, your friends' parents are on their way; your mother has gone to pick them up with the limo." Windspeaker started. "What wasn't said to you or your friends is that the parents are upset. After meeting at the station, they came to the realization that your friends have been traveling to the digital world again. From there, the parents of the new generation were able to learn that their children were digidestined as well.

"Your friends parents have already guessed that this camp isn't what you made it out to be, and are upset that not only did you lie about the camp and your intentions behind it, but you had their children lie to them as well."

With a worried expression on his face Apoclypse asks, "What should we do then father? Their individual skill and talents have improved as I had promised, and we're too far into this to stop now."

"We may be able to help smoothing things over by having your friends demonstrate how far they've excelled in their chosen fields and talents. Tell them to focus on practicing their talents today, and maybe after seeing how far they've progressed, their parents will let them stay for the remainder of the summer." Windspeaker stated.

"That may work." Apoclypse said as he thought it over.

"Son," Windspeaker started, while placing his hand on Apoclypse's shoulder. "When you first came to your mother and I about your plans, we told you that if your friends were punished, you would be punished as well for causing it; I am telling you right now that we stand by our decision and it is very likely that they will be punished."

"I understand father, it's only fair." Apoclypse said in a slightly nervous voice.

"Good. Be sure to tell your friend to be in the entrance hall a little before noon; that is when their parents will be arriving." Windspeaker told him. "Do not inform them of anything I have just said. Otherwise your punishment will be increased."

"Yes father." Apoclypse said, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible.

Bidding his father goodbye, Apoclypse made his way to the sitting room the others were in. "So, does anyone want to get in some last minute practice of your skills before your parents arrive?"

The digidestined shared questioning looks with one another, sensing something was off. "What's going on Apoclypse?" Yolei asked "I thought we agreed to do some more combat training today? Was it something your dad said to make us change our schedule?"

"Oh nothing like that, I just realized that if your parents want a tour of the grounds that they may well end up seeing "The Room." And I wanted to program a few things into it before they get here. " Apoclypse said quickly.

Most of the others accepted this, though Davis looked suspicious. Feeling some pressure in the back of his head, Apoclypse quickly deduced what was happening. Davis, stay the hell out of my head! Apoclypse mentally yelled, though his face remained neutral; Davis' eyes widened in surprise.

I applaud your ingenuity in trying to gathering information this way; it's something that may come in handy in the future against enemies. However, when you first acquired your powers I told you during your training with it not to invade my, or the others, minds. My mental defenses alerted me that you were searching for the conversation I just had with my father. My conversations with my father are private unless I say otherwise. I will let this go this one time, and I expect this will not happen again, to me or the others, if it does believe me I'll know. Silently, Davis nodded his head.

"Before we split up to get our practice in for the day dad did want me to tell all of you that he wants us to assemble in the entrance hall a little before noon as your parents will be arriving at noon exactly." Apoclypse said as everyone got up to go practice their skills.

**Noon in the entrance hall…**

"They should be arriving soon." Cody stated as he checked his watch.

"Why are there ten chairs out here?" Izzy questioned, noting how there usually weren't so many.

Before anything else could be said, the doors to the entrance hall swung open, and the mothers of each of the digidestined entered with Dawnflare, and none of them looked happy. Several of them were carrying brown shopping bags under their arms. Dawnflare was talking with Mrs. Kamiya, Kari and Tai's mother, while the other mothers were listening in as well, though what was being said could not be heard by the kids at that distance.

Mrs. Kamiya finally nodded to Dawnflare and made her way to her children. "So Kari, Tai, I hope this 'camp' has helped you to progress in your chosen fields; though I doubt there has been much progress due to your training to stand against the latest digital world threat."

Several of the destined's eyes widened at that statement. "Momma?" Kari questioned, her vocabulary slipping in her surprise. "How did you know…?"

"I knew months ago that you had found a way back into the Digital World Kari." Mrs. Kamiya stated. "After you came back from beating Apocalymon you never let me commission a doll of Gatomon for you, you said that it would be too painful a reminder of her being stuck in a world away from you. Then when school starts up again you suddenly start carry an incredibly realistic 'doll' of Gatomon around? Did you think I wouldn't notice? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No Momma!" Kari exclaimed in a slightly scarred voice as she had never seen her mother so irate before.

"Mom, please calm down!" Tai said, seeing everyone beginning to get worked up.

"I'll calm down when my children stop lying to me!" Mrs. Kamiya yelled. "I was happy that you were able to return to the Digital World to be with your partners again. You were never happier than when you were with them the first time and it made me happy despite your being in another world. But you hid from me the fact that there was another enemy, one that nearly killed Apoclypse, Crystal and Kitsuna! And now you've lied to me about why you've come to this camp!"

She rounded on the other children. "In fact all of you have lied to your parents!" She paused as her gaze landed on Crystal and Kitsuna. "Except for you two, I've been informed that your parents knew from day one about this or that you are behaving honorably and respectfully."

Mrs. Kamiya shifted her gaze to the rest of the group. "Your mothers and I agreed to send you here because we were assured you'd be developing skills that would help you get a good job or a successful career in the future!"

"We didn't think you'd understand!" Kari cried, upset at how badly her mother was taking it.

"Mom, we all have a responsibility to do everything we can to keep the Digital World safe." Tai tried to explain. "If any of you knew what was going on or how dangerous it was, you might have tried to stop us. And if we don't stop the bad guys, they'll come to our world like Myotismon did; Only this time it would be much worse!"

"Please don't be mad momma." Kari pleaded.

"We are beyond mad young lady." Mrs. Kamiya stated. "What would you have told the parents of your newest group members if something happened to their children? They didn't even know that their kids were digidestined until we met at the train station.

"That being said, Dawnflare has given us an overview of what's been happening, starting from the time Apoclypse, Kitsuna and Crystal became digidestined to now. All of you will be punished for lying and dishonoring us, but whether or not we drag each of you home for a worse punishment is dependent upon how well this 'show and tell' we were promised goes."

Each of the mothers stepped forward, grabbing each of their children and dragging them to a chair. Tai and Matt were forced next to their mothers while the rest of their children were pulled over their parent's lap. Realizing what was happening, Apoclypse spoke up.

"Mrs. Kamiya, respectable mothers of my friends, please wait! If you are about to do what I think you are, then I beg you to spare them. It is entirely my fault that they lied to you, I implored them to. I told them to lie, and I made the cover up. If anyone deserves to be punished it is me, not them."

Mrs. Kamiya looked Apoclypse square in the eye. "We are well aware of the fact that you are the mastermind behind all this Apoclypse, your mother informed us of this on our ride up here. However we raised our children to be completely honest with us, and to lie to us is to bring great dishonor and shame to our family. Honor is important to each and every one of us."

"Because each of them knew this and chose to lie anyways, each of the digidestined will be spanked with a wooden brush." Dawnflare explained to everyone. "For the older children, punishments after the fact will consist of a number of tasks around the property at scheduled times, with the exception of Mimi for her aid with my son's nightly troubles as it's a serious condition."

"Instead, Mimi will be joining the younger group in their punishment. While the elder members of your group chose not to reveal their ability to return to the digital world or of the coming danger, their status of digidestined was known to their families, as well as the possibility of being called back to duty, so to speak."

"But Davis, Yolei, Cody, and Ken, your parents were not even aware of your status as digidestined at all. Instead of telling your parents you chose to hide the fact you became digidestined like a child would hide their sheets after wetting the bed. Because you are still young, as are T.K. and Kari, each of you shall be receiving a diaper punishment."

"What!" Several of the younger kids exclaimed, earning a smack to the behind from their mothers.

"This is to dissuade you from lying to your families again." Dawnflare stated. "Behave dishonorably as a child, and you will be punished as one. Furthermore, you will not be allowed any clothes that will cover your diapers, apart from your shirts, and you will be expected to use them for their intended purposes." She turned to her son. "Apoclypse, you shall also be spanked as punishment for your hand in the deception; however it shall be with a wooden paddle. You shall receive five swats, not from your father or I, but from each child's mother here. Furthermore, you shall be waiting on Mrs. Kamiya personally for the remainder of the day."

Dawnflare made her way over to Crystal and Kitsuna as the mothers began removing their children's bottoms. Placing her hand on each of their shoulders, she sent a silent message to each child to watch what was happening, as they might someday share their fate if they misbehaved too.

None of the digidestined resisted as they were stripped of their bottoms. Dawnflare and Mrs. Kamiya's speeches had really hit home with them. They felt ashamed for what they had done, and as such accepted their punishment without complaint. The swats to their behinds stung, being hard enough to turn the skin pink. Tai and Matt's behinds however were red, as their mothers scolded them for not setting a good example for their younger siblings.

While the older children's bottoms were pulled up, Davis, Yolei, Cody, T.K., Kari, Ken, and Mimi were each laid down on a changing mat removed from the brown bags. Each blushing furiously, their mothers proceeded to powder their bottoms and fronts before diapering them. Once cleared, they each rose from the changing mat, some hesitantly examining their new garment while the rest kept their heads bowed and their eyes on the floor.

His time upon him, Apoclypse was placed over T.K. and Matt's mother's lap. Ms. Takaishi pulled out a wooden paddle with several holes throughout it, and proceeded to pull down Apoclypse's bottoms and diaper. After delivering five firm swats, she held him steady as the other mothers had their turn, swatting him a total of fifty times, turning his bottom a dark red.

Unable to hold back some tears, Apoclypse did his best to keep his voice steady. "I-I am…deeply so-orry for dishonoring you…by causing my…my friends to lie…I can only hope…that with time…you will forgive my…dishonorable and shameful act."

After his apology, he was let off Ms. Takaishi's lap and pulled up his diaper and handing his pants over to be held in the same bag as the others bottoms. Just then, Jefferson entered the hall with five servants. "Lady Dawnflare, you asked me to bring you the head servants for the laundry, stables, kitchen, grounds keeping, and housekeeping?"

"Yes, thank you Jefferson." Turning to the children she says, "As Mrs. Kamiya said you older children with the exception of Ms. Mimi will be helping our servants as the second half of your punishment. Tai, you will go with Wayne our head grounds keeper and help him plant the new batch of trees on the southern part of the grounds. Joe you will help Robertson in the kitchen doing dishes and preparing supper. Izzy you will work in the laundry room with Janet. Sora you will help Shannon prepare the bedrooms where your parents will be sleeping tonight and cleaning wherever she needs to clean. Matt you will go with Mortimer our chief hostler and help clean out the stables and care for the horses."

"Yes ma'am." They said as they bowed to her and then went to the servant they were to assist that day.

Turning to Kitsuna and Crystal Dawnflare says, "Since you two had no hand in the deception you won't be punished, you may go do what you like for the remainder of the day, with the exception of training for the battle to come. Otherwise have fun."

Turning back to the others she says, "Well I promised to give you a proper tour of the place after you tended to your children. Where would you like to start?"

**Three hours later… **

Leading the group down a hallway Dawnflare says, "This next room is very interesting. Apoclypse designed and built the room himself so I will leave the explanation of it to him."

"As my mother said I built this room myself, I got the idea from an old television show called Star Trek: The Next Generation; you may have seen it or heard about it. Essentially I have created a working version of the Holo-Deck that they used for recreation on the show." Apoclypse said as Joes' mother nods.

Leading the group into "The Room" Apoclypse asks, "Mrs. Kamiya, might I ask where in the world you would most like to visit if you had the money to go there?"

"Well, I always wanted to go to Hawaii."

"I see. What would you say I could make Hawaii come to you with this room?"

"If you made me be in Hawaii without leaving this room it might go far towards you redeeming yourself for causing, at least my children, to lie."

Walking to the panel on the right side of the wall Apoclypse presses a few buttons then says, "Computer load vacation program Hawaiian paradise dusk mode."

Seconds later the room transforms the area inside into a dusk setting on a beach where there are a few stages set up with fire jugglers, fire eaters and Luau dancers entertaining a group of people. Leading the group to a table between the Luau dancers and a fire dancer Apoclypse pulls out a chair and motions for Mrs. Kamiya to sit. Glancing nervously at the others Mrs. Kamiya lowers herself into the chair and is surprised that it is as solid as it looks. Seeing that the chairs are real the other parents take a seat with their children sitting on the ground next to them. Noticing that the breeze was missing Apoclypse says, "Computer, activate ocean breeze minimal speed."

As the group starts to relax watching the dancers a gentleman dressed as a waiter comes over and says, "May I get you ladies and the children something to drink."

"Computer freeze program." Apoclypse said hurriedly.

"Why did you stop the program dear?" Dawnflare asked

"I'll explain in a minute everyone please get up and come with me." Apoclypse said hurriedly.

Raising quickly the group leaves the room and Apoclypse walks over to the panel and presses a few buttons mumbling under his breath rapidly. "Just as I thought" He mumbles causing his mother to ask again, "Why did you freeze the program and then make us come out of the room Apoclypse? If I have to ask a third time I'll give you another spanking."

"Sorry mother, I did it for our safety. I noticed something strange after I loaded the program where the sea breeze wasn't blowing, we should have had a nice soft breeze immediately. But when that waiter came over I knew something was wrong as I didn't program a waiter into the simulation. After running a diagnostic on the panel here I found that the data had become corrupted and needed to be repaired."

"Ok, but how does that pertain to our safety?" Mrs. Hida asked.

"Well data over time does become a little corrupted and has to be fixed. This is true for all computer programs. But in the Holo-deck any corruption bad enough to cause something that was not written into the coding to happen could cause the safety features of the Holo-deck malfunction and anything could happen. For example one of those fire dancers could have lost control of one of his fire sticks and struck one of us causing us to be lit on fire. I'm sorry, I would have liked to allow you to see more of "The Room's" capabilities but for the moment I must insist that we continue on our tour, I have to make a lot of repairs to data before it is safe to use again. Unfortunately this will prevent Joe, Yolei, Ken, and Izzy from showing you what they have learned while they were working on their skills, as they had to use the room to make any of it happen."

"What do you mean "they had to use the room," couldn't they do it outside just as easily?" Mrs. Ichijouji asked.

"Well Joe and Yolei were working on improving in their medical skills. While they could practice outside of the room it would be unethical to injure people just to give them practice, the room allowed them to load a Holo-simulation of a person with varying injuries, illnesses, and of different sex's and ages. Ken and Izzy were working on building something that would revolutionize travel but since it would be beyond our ability to buy the materials to make a real version of their device, which they changed several times, they used to room to create Holo-simulations of the parts and equipment they needed." Apoclypse replied

"Oh I see. Well then I guess we have to rely on the other demonstrations to decide us." she said.

Smelling a faint but foul odor coming from her daughter, Mrs. Tachikawa (Mimi's mother) says, "Perhaps this would be a good time to take a break and use the bathroom, and do a diaper check. Come on sweetie you can show me where the bathroom is."

As they walk into the restroom Mrs. Tachikawa locks the door behind her and, laying her daughter on the floor, raises her shirt enough to show that Mimi had completely filled the diaper. Opening the bag she had brought with her she pulls out a clean Molicare diaper and a box of wipes and proceeds to change Mimi. Unfastening the tapes she carefully lowers the front of the diaper to the floor and raises her daughters' leg high enough to lift her bum off the ground. Sliding the soiled diaper out from under her she then wipes the feces off with several wipes then places the clean diaper under her. After adjusting it slightly under her she lowers Mimi back onto the diaper and pulls the front tab up between her legs and pulls it tight against her front. Grabbing one of the back panels she quickly fastens the dual tapes onto the front panel and repeats the process on the other side. Rolling the wipes up in the soiled diaper she throws away the soiled Diaper and proceeds to wash her hands.

As she finishes drying her hands Mimi walks over to her and gives her a hug saying, "I'm so sorry momma, I knew it was dishonorable to lie to you but I was afraid that you would say I couldn't come here and would do everything you could to stop me from going back to the Digital World. I didn't want to lie but I have a responsibility to Palmon and all the Digimon of the Digital World as one of the Digidestined."

"I know sweetie, I know. I forgive you but you're not getting out of the diapering part of the punishment. Besides I know you are kind of enjoying the diapering anyway."

Shocked that her mother said this Mimi just stutters and says, "but…but…but…how do you know that?"

"Don't you recognize these diapers Mimi? They are from your secret stash; I found them when I was cleaning your room the other day. Its ok I don't think it weird that you like to wear diapers from time to time and act like a baby in your room. If it makes you happy then I won't stop you, just make sure that you clean up the mess properly when you're finished with your "baby time" ok. I originally brought them because I thought you would want something to help you relax while you were here since I know it is kind of scary being so far from home away from your parents. Now let's let the others have a chance to use the bathroom to get changed" Mrs. Tachikawa said kissing her daughter on the forehead.

**8:00 in the dining room…**

"Well children have you learned your lesson about lying to your parents?" Mrs. Kamiya asked as they waited for the servers to bring out their food.

"Yes ma'am" they all replied in unison.

"Good, then you are forgiven and after dinner may have the rest of the evening to yourselves. As for your "show and tell" tomorrow Ken, Izzy, Joe, and Yolei I'm afraid that you will be unable to show us what you have done. While showing us "The Room" today Apoclypse noticed a malfunction in the program he loaded and found out that the room is in need of maintenance so it is off limits until further notice. The rest of you however are not off the hook and will have to just give us your absolute best tomorrow." Mrs. Kamiya said as the servers placed their plates in front of them.

As they ate dinner the adults talked amongst each other, while the Kids who were at the other end of the long wooden table talked about what had happened that day.

"Apoclypse you knew that our mothers were angry didn't you, that's what your father told you when he took you aside isn't it?" Tai asked glaring at Apoclypse.

"Yes, that is what he told me. But what I didn't know is what they planned on doing once they got here. He didn't know, or if he did he didn't tell me. He just made me swear not to tell you that they were mad. And trust me guys what you got from your mothers, and what I got from them, is NOTHING compared to a broken word to my father. To tell the truth I'm happy that your mothers got to spank me instead of my parents. They very rarely had to spank me when I was younger but when they did it really hurt. The last time I couldn't sit down at all for a week and I had to sleep on my stomach."

"Well I'll take your word for it but damn my ass still hurts and my arms are sore as hell from shoveling all that shit out of the stables." Matt said causing T.K. to snort a small laugh.

"So what are we going to do tomorrow for our demonstrations? We lost our two biggest wow factors when "The Room" crapped out on me earlier." Apoclypse said, drawing Matt's attention away from T.K.

"Well I still want to sing for them and I'm sure Matt could show off his guitar skills but we might need someone to play the drums or the piano for us." Mimi said thoughtfully.

"I can play the Piano if you need me to Mimi." Joe said causing everyone to stare at him dumbstruck. "What. You know my dad wants me to be a doctor. Well he knew that the best way to keep the fingers nimble for performing operations was to play a lot of piano so he made me take lessons when I was younger. I can play any song by the great classical composers as well as some more recent stuff."

"Ok so we have the concert, I think that would be best as our closer. What else can we do?"

"Well T.K. and I are both really good with creative writing, you know stories and poetry and stuff like that; we just don't mention our interest in it around our parents that much. Well we could write some poems tonight and read them tomorrow in front of everyone." Kari said quietly

"I was also thinking that I could do a demonstration of what you have taught me in Kuk Sool Won, and you could do a demonstration of the power of Ki control you learn in it." Cody said.

"Hmm that might be something, Tai, Sora, Davis, would one of you mind helping me demonstrate it, don't worry I won't do anything to you I just need you to assist me."

"I guess I can help you Apoclypse." Sora said

"Great. Now what would you two want to do for this tomorrow Tai, Davis?"

"Well since "The Room" is out of order we can't do something that requires a team sport to show off our new skills. We could use the archery range and show them how good we have become in that. But that isn't very exciting, although we are up to one hundred yard targets for perfect accuracy."

"Actually that is kind of impressive, have you trained to perfect accuracy despite wind conditions?"

"Yeah we did practice until we were able to compensate for any wind whatsoever."

"Ok here's the plan. After breakfast we start off with T.K. and Kari reading the poems they will write tonight, then we will move to the archery range where Tai and Davis will fire ten arrows each at a target one hundred yards out with your best grouping possible. After that we will move to the Dojo where Cody will demonstrate Ki Cho Hyung, and Cho Geup Hyung. After he finishes I will demonstrate two breaking techniques. Sora you will inspect the items to verify they are not tampered with, and produce them to our parents for their own inspection. After the breakings I will do one more demonstration by having you sandwich me between two large boards filled with nails and then with the help of Kitsuna and Crystal you will get on top of the top board and walk on it. It will blow their minds. After all that we will finish with a concert by Matt and Mimi with Joe on the piano." Apoclypse said finishing off his cream of mushroom soup and moving on to his steak.

As they crawl into bed Apoclypse says, "Mimi I'm so sorry I got you and the others in such deep trouble. I wasn't thinking clearly when I planned to get you guys here; I never would have thought for a second that your parents would have said you could come."

Giving him a quick hug Mimi says, "It's alright Apoclypse, we didn't think they would have said yes either. Though I admit something good came out of it."

"What do you mean?" Crystal asked from the bed she shared with Kitsuna

"Well the diapers mom forced me to wear and use today were from my secret stash, she didn't buy them on the way here like the others did. She said she found my stash, and the other baby items I had for when I had my "baby time" when I was home alone or I had my room locked and secured against anyone seeing inside, when she was cleaning my room the other day. She said she was perfectly fine with me doing it as long as I cleaned up properly after I had my "baby time."

"Wow, talk about lucky. Well we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Good night guys." Kitsuna said turning off his bedside lamp.

"Good night." Apoclypse, Mimi and Crystal echoed as they settled down for the night.

**Chapter 9**

**8:30 in the Sitting room…**

"The poem I wrote for the demonstration of how I have improved in my chosen field, which like Kari is that of having to do with the literary world, is dedicated to my partner Patomon when he is in his evolved form of Angemon. Enjoy." T.K. started.

"Angemon, Angemon shining bright in the darkness of the night, what immortal hand or eye could frame thy heavenly symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies burnt the justice of thine eyes? On what angelic wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire? And with what staff and great skill does he try to avoid a kill? And when thy justice has been forced, what poor creature dose he remorse? And when the heavens threw down their spears and wet the land with their tears, did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Devimon make thee? Angemon, Angemon shining bright in the darkness of the night, what immortal hand or eye dare frame thy heavenly symmetry?"

Applause broke out as T.K. finished his poem and his mother stood up giving him a hug. Giving him a discrete pat on the bum to check his diaper she finds that he needs a change before they went to see the next demonstration. As the others stood T.K whispers to his mom, "Can I do the change myself mother? It's embarrassing enough that us younger generation are punished with diaper punishment, but it is almost unbearable having you change me in front of everyone."

Keeping her voice low so only he can hear her Mrs. Takaishi whispers, "I'm going to change you this time. However if you and your friends are well behaved by lunch perhaps the other mothers and I will allow you to change yourselves. But this is a punishment Takeru, and it is supposed to teach you a lesson, so the best answer your getting is a, "we'll see.""

Straightening up Mrs. Takaishi says, "Well it seems you really have shown a great talent for writing T.K.. Though I can't really judge how you have improved since you never told me about your interest in it, although that might be a clue right there. You never told me because you didn't think your attempts were good enough right?"

"Well, yeah I thought my early works were really bad and I threw them away almost as soon as I finished writing them. At first I had not a drop of talent for rhyme or meter but I studied some poetry books in secret to get practice on how it should look; then after I came here I practiced my writing with Kari when we weren't in combat practice. I want to apologize again for not telling you the truth momma." T.K. said giving his mother a tight hug.

Well now that this portion of the demonstrations is over might I ask you to make your way to the archery range where Tai and Davis will give a demonstration on how they have improved in archery, which is an Olympic sport and is one of the things they have been practicing in the sports fields. I also ask that you excuse myself and Cody so that we may go set up for our demonstrations in the Dojo." Apoclypse said bowing to the adults.

"Very well, you may take my son to the dojo to set up. But if you finish in time I ask that you rejoin us at the archery range." Mrs. Hida said.

"Of course ma'am, the set up should take no longer than ten minutes and it will take longer than that for Tai and Davis to finish."

Quickly remembering about their "no pants" part of their punishment Apoclypse says, "There is one other thing I would like to ask, as we will be demonstrating a martial art it would be a severe show of disrespect if we are not in full uniform. That being said might I appeal the "no pants" part of the punishment until after Cody and I finish our demonstrations?"

After a quick discussion amongst the adults Mrs. Kamiya says, "Very well, as this punishment was to teach you a lesson about dishonoring your elders we cannot in good conscience force you to dishonor or disrespect the values of your martial arts. However in exchange you will each get another ten swats for being allowed the use of your uniforms pants, which will be administered after the demonstration."

"We understand. It is only fair as we would be in direct violation of the initial punishment." Apoclypse replied as he and Cody trotted off to the Dojo to get changed into their uniforms and set up the items Apoclypse would need for his Ki control breaking demonstration."

**Outside near the archery range…**

Minutes later Apoclypse and Cody are rounding the corner to the archery range when they hear a smattering of applause and a whoop of joy from Kari. "I guess Tai just hit another bulls-eye eh Cody?"

"Sounds like it. We better hurry before mom starts thinking were not going to come." Cody responded.

Just as they get to the group they see Tai walking down the range to the target as Davis patiently waits for his turn at the target that is set up next to Tai's. When Tai gets to his target he hollers to the group "I'm sorry Madam Dawnflare but I seem to owe you ten new arrow shafts I was so accurate that I literally shot through to the exact same spot with each arrow causing them to split the one I shot before it. The tenth arrow is logged so deep in the target that it will have to be cut out."

Hearing this, the group all walk down to the target to see what Tai was talking about and are shocked that he was not kidding about his accuracy. As they go back to watch Davis shoot his arrows Mrs. Kamiya notices Kari walking strangely and walks over to her asking, "Sweetie is something wrong?"

Turning a beet red Kari says, "I just…you know…used it again. I don't think it will hold anymore especially with the heat out here making me sweat a lot."

"That's ok sweetie we can go get you changed while Davis fires his arrows. Come on." Mrs. Kamiya said draping an arm over Kari's shoulders and grabbing her bag of changing supplies.

As Davis takes his position at the firing line he astounds the others with his first nine shots, all of which hit the center of the target. Before he draws his tenth arrow he hands an apple to Tai and says, "Alright Tai let's do it just as we practiced." Nodding to Davis Tai walks ten yards downrange of Davis and lobs the apple into the air high enough so he can get out of the way. As the apple descends Davis watches it with his arrow drawn to full length and just when he feels the time is right he loses the arrow which speeds along and spears the apple, losing only a tiny bit of its momentum the arrow continues down the range and plants itself into the target on the outer edge of the bulls eye with the apple still on it.

With a cheer the kids, with the exception of Kari who was still being changed, rush over to Davis and give him a clap on the back praising him for that wonderful shot. A few minutes after the kids rushed over to Davis his Mother comes back from the target with the apple and taking a bite out of it she says, "Davis that was amazing your first nine shots may not have split each other like Tai's did but those arrows have to be cut out of the target all the same, and that shot through the apple was amazing, simply amazing. I didn't know you had a talent for anything other than soccer."

"Awe it wasn't that great mom. I just practiced a ton with the bow is all, don't you remember how dad used to take me hunting with him when I was younger. He used to tease me about how I couldn't hold his bow let alone draw it. Just think of how shocked he would be if he were with us today." Davis said causing his mom to get a little teary eyed at the memory of her late husband. (Hi there breaking the 4th wall here to remind you that this is NOT a cannon universe story and in this universe Davis's father died.)

"Yeah, he would be so proud of you. It's a shame he died when he did. I still miss him." Mrs. Motomiya said giving her son an extra tight hug.

"Mom…squeezing…too hard." Davis choked out with difficulty from lack of air.

"Woops sorry Davis."

"Mother, Father, honorable guests, if you would please follow me it is time for Cody and I to show you how he has improved and what he has yet to learn to do." Apoclypse said causing Mrs. Hida to look at Cody with a questioning look. Seeing his mother's look Cody just smiles and shakes his head silently telling her that he isn't going to spoil the show by telling her what was to come."

**Back in the Dojo…**

"Before we begin our demonstrations I would like to tell you a little bit about what you will be seeing." Apoclypse began as Cody started stretching.

"Years ago, when I was four I started taking a martial arts class called Kuk Sool Won, which translates to Korean National Martial Arts. Normally children under the age of 15 are not allowed to join any class for this style. But father was very persuasive with the master instructor of the dojo and with his immediate master who oversaw several schools in the region we were located. At first I was all legs and could barely keep up with the class but I began to shock the instructor and his master with how fast I learned the moves that we were taught."

Walking back and forth in front of the group he continues, "Three years ago I was honored with the greatest gift any martial artist could want, I was made a black belt and was welcomed into the master rank as a Kuk Sool Won fighter. This is relevant because when Cody came here I knew of his skill in the art of Kendo fighting, having been taught by his venerable grandfather. Cody relayed to me that he had an interest in martial arts of all kinds so I decided to teach him Kuk Sool Won. In the three weeks he has been here he has developed the skill it takes to be promoted one full rank from the white belt to that of a yellow belt. Today he will demonstrate for you the white and yellow belt forms, should he do so flawlessly he will be given his half promotion which is a blue stripe onto his belt. After his demonstration I will show you just what it means to reach the rank of a master in this style."

Turning to Cody Apoclypse bows to him and clears the floor so Cody can proceed with his demonstration. Walking to the middle of the floor Cody announces the names of his forms in their proper Korean terms and bows to everyone. Four minutes later Cody comes to attention and turns around to face the group again and bows. Clapping with the rest of the group Apoclypse walks over to Cody with a roll of blue tape under his arm. Kneeling down Apoclypse quickly wraps the tape around both ends of the belt about one inch from the ends. Standing up he shakes Cody's hand and bows to him again.

"Now for my demonstration, Sora, Tai, Matt would you three please help me move this table to the middle of the floor and inspect it to make sure that it is not tampered with in any way?" Apoclypse asked moving over to a large table that looks as if it should be in a wood shop. Once he had it set up Apoclypse offers the mothers a chance to look over the table to confirm what Tai, Sora and Matt said. Once they all sit back down Apoclypse pulls a large glass coke bottle out of a gym bag and hands it to Sora to show to the others.

When she brings it back to him he places it in the middle of the table saying, "Kuk Sool Won is a martial art that does not rely on physical strength but on inner strength, when you begin learning it you are taught breathing exercises to help control your Ki or energy. Ki control can be used to heal or to harm. Normally if someone were to smash a coke bottle like this with their hand they would shred it to ribbons and need emergency help. I will show you three forms of Ki control today two of which will show you how it can harm, one of which will be for defense."

Closing his eyes Apoclypse begins breathing slowly. Placing his had one inch over the coke bottle he continues to breath slowly while opening his eyes. With a small tap from his hand on the middle of the bottle Apoclypse causes the bottle to literally explode, much like a light bulb one it is hit just right, which causes the mothers to screech softly in shock. Walking around the table Apoclypse turns his hand palm up and slowly walks down the line to show everyone there is not a single cut or sliver of glass in his hand. Going back to the table Apoclypse pulls out a stack of bricks from his bag totaling nine in all.

"What you just saw was a sudden mass expulsion of Ki, while some would think that what I just did is all Ki can do, that is to say come out as a massive burst and not be controlled I can assure you it can. If one of you would care to inspect the bricks and stack them into a nice tower I will gladly show you how it can be controlled."

Walking slowly over to the table Sora's mother quickly examines the bricks and stacks them perfectly, "Thank you Mrs. Takenouchi, now if you please pick one brick other than the top three and step back."

Thinking for a moment she says, "I choose brick number six." Then she steps back from the table as Apoclypse steps up to the stack. Placing his hand over the stack in the same way he did with the coke bottle Apoclypse centers himself and taps the top brick like he did the coke bottle. But instead of it exploding, the brick that Mrs. Takenouchi chose explodes into a pile of rubble as the bricks on top of it fall off the stack.

"Now for the final demonstration, I ask that you please keep any questions until after I show you what I'm going to do." Apoclypse said unfastening his belt and removing his shirt he turns on the spot giving everyone a good view of his front and back then continues, "as you can see apart from the scars on my back and front there are no marks what so ever." Walking over to the closet he pulls out two boards of plywood filled with nails going all the way through laying the first board on the ground Apoclypse motions for Crystal, Kitsuna and Sora to join him. Lying down on the board he holds the other on his chest as Kitsuna and Crystal help Sora to get up onto the board and then to walk on it up and down the length.

"Sora now that you have walked on it I would like to request you do one small hop in the middle of it on my mark." Apoclypse said as Sora was going back to the middle of the board. When he said to she jumps in place coming down with her full weight onto the board then steps off of it with Kitsuna's help while Crystal took the board from Apoclypse and helped him stand up. Once he was on his feet he motioned for Crystal to bring both boards and grabs a watermelon from his bag and says as he approaches the group, "As you can see I am unharmed but you probably are thinking the nails might be dull well I'm going to let you see for yourself how sharp they are."

Having Crystal hold one board nails up Apoclypse places the watermelon onto the middle of the board and then places the other board on top of it without even pushing on it the nails immediately sink into the watermelon on top as it slides slowly down the nails under it. Pulling the board off he shows the newly "aerated" melon to the group and says, "I will answer any questions you have now."

**In the dining hall at the lunch break…**

"You ok Cody, Apoclypse? Those ten swats looked like they were harder than the ones we got yesterday." Yolei said as Cody and Apoclypse gently lower themselves onto their seats.

"I'll be fine, it just hurts so much because I haven't fully healed from the fifty I got yesterday." Apoclypse said wincing as his diaper shifted slightly against his freshly abused buttocks."

Whispering to Jefferson Apoclypse asks him to bring four jugs of his "special" juice from the fridge to the table then turns to Tai and Matt. "Tai, Matt, I know you guys said that you didn't want to risk the possible serious side effect of taking a mass dose of the "juice" but I must be frank, you two, Agumon, and Gabumon have shown the least amount of progress in combat training, at the rate you are going I honestly don't think you will survive a real fight against him when the time comes. So I must ask again are you absolutely sure you don't want to take the mass dose? Don't answer immediately I want you to really think about it. I am having Jefferson bring four pitchers of the "juice" out here but don't let that influence you."

As Jefferson set the four pitchers on the table the other servants brought out their lunch and placed the plates in front of everyone. As they ate Tai and Matt thought hard about what Apoclypse had said. Finishing off his soup Matt grabs one of the pitchers and says, "Apoclypse, your right, Tai and I just are not improving like we should be. And considering how easily that simulation swatted away our partners there is no way I can justify not taking the mass dose. However I will not force Gabumon to do anything he does not want to do. So while I will take it I leave it up to him to choose whether or not he takes it."

"I can't believe I'm saying this but Matt is completely right about this. We can't afford to not take it no matter the consequences." Tai said as he grabbed one of the pitchers himself and starts chugging it down.

Looking at each other Agumon and Gabumon nod and grab the two remaining pitchers and drink them down quickly. Once each of them finish drinking they all drain their water glasses and then excuse themselves as they feel the need to use the bathroom. A few minutes after Tai, Matt, Agumon and Gabumon leave the room there is the sound of a massive explosion that seems to come from outside.

Quickly getting up from the table everyone; kids, Digimon, and parents, run out through the open front doors to see Matt and Tai locked in a grappling match while WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are battling in the sky above. Running down the steps Mrs. Kamiya and Mrs. Takaishi scream at their sons, "What the hell are you two doing? Stop fighting this instant." Reaching their sons who simply refused to stop fighting, the two try to pull them apart and each catch a wild blow in the face sending them sprawling on the ground for their trouble.

Seeing that this will quickly get out of hand Apoclypse says, "Sacred weapon energize" and grabbing a six foot long staff that appeared to have a silver sheen jumps down the steps to land next to Tai and Matt and quickly breaks the two apart by striking them in a few tender spots with the staff, and using a pressure point hold forces them to their knees saying, "Matt, Tai I have no idea what the hell got into you two but you have gone too damn far. Or didn't you notice during your fight you injured your mothers?"

Quickly turning their heads to look, Tai and Matt see that Joe is kneeling over their mothers with his medical bag open and a penlight in his mouth. Turning his attention to the two Digimon still flying above them Apoclypse yells, "WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon come down here and tell me what the hell caused this fight.

Landing on either side of Apoclypse next to their trainers MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon take turns explaining what had happened after they left the dining room. After hearing them out Apoclypse turns his attention to Tai and Matt and says, "So you have no idea what caused them to start yelling at each other, and they just suddenly started fighting? So why are you two in your mega forms fighting above these two idiots, wait don't tell me "you don't know" right? Zounds what the hell is wrong with you two, don't you know that the strength boost you got from the "juice" makes you as strong as a body builder. You could have seriously hurt each other, or worse your mothers."

Using his own telepathy Apoclypse tries digging through the minds of the four and is shocked to see that despite Tai and Matt being immobilized by his pressure holds they are in a blind rage, and for some reason WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are linked to their partners telepathically. Raising his voice Apoclypse yells over to Izzy, "Hey Izzy can you get Gennai to check and see if a mass dose of the "juice" can cause temporary psychosis."

"Actually Apoclypse I thought the same thing and Gennai said that its one of the rarest side effects but yes, he also said that it can cause the Digimon and their partner to become linked while the Psychosis is happening causing them to feel the others pain."

"Thanks Izzy, I think that is exactly what happened." Apoclypse said as he used his power to disperse the psychosis.

Looking over to Joe Apoclypse yells, "Joe how are they doing?"

"They'll be fine Apoclypse, just a bruise on their jaw, they are very lucky if those two had meant those blows we would be rushing them to the hospital right now." Joe said as he helped Mrs. Kamiya and Mrs. Takaishi to slowly get to their feet.

After a quick statement to the others Dawnflare and Windspeaker rush back into the house and return with a chair each. Knowing what was coming Tai and Matt try to talk their way out of their impending punishment and quickly shut up when Apoclypse squeezes the pressure point tighter. Raising the two to their feet with his hand still on the pressure points Apoclypse walks them over to their mothers who were sitting in the chairs with a very angry look on their faces. Before they get to them Apoclypse whispers in Matt and Tai's ears, "If you try and resist your punishment I will put you in a pressure hold so painful you will think I had broken your bones. Am I clear?"

At their nod Apoclypse releases the hold on them and leaves them to their mothers' wrath. Walking back to the others Apoclypse refuses to turn around as he hears the loud slap of hand on flesh as Tai and Matt receive the worst spanking they have ever had in their lives. When he gets to the group he says, "Joe when they are done I want you to make sure that Mrs. Kamiya and Mrs. Takaishi get some of my special balm for bruises. Take them to my bedroom and give them enough to put a thin layer of it on the entire bruise. You can find it in the bottom drawer of my changing table. I'll take over for you on the piano while Mimi sings; I highly doubt that Matt will be allowed to show his skill now."

Turning to his parents and the others Apoclypse says, "If you will follow me we can adjourn to the concert hall so Mimi can sing for us."

**In the concert hall…**

In the middle of the stage surrounded by the glow of a spotlight Mimi says, "Originally Matt and I had planned to have me sing a few songs that he and I wrote while he played the guitar. However I have decided to sing a few songs from my favorite Opera's while Apoclypse plays the melody on the piano for me." Two hours later Mimi finishes the recital with the song "Habanera" from the opera "Carmen" to a standing ovation from her friends their parents and her mother. Descending the stage on the side near Apoclypse she hears him say, "You were magnificent," just as she is swept up into a massive hug by her mother.

"Mimi that was so beautiful, I really hope you continue working on this because you have a great gift in your voice. I have no doubt that if you wanted to you could win any roll you want in any opera. Oh baby girl I'm so happy that you are so talented." Mrs. Tachikawa wept into Mimi's shoulder as she continued to hug her daughter.

Whispering in her mothers' ear Mimi says, "I love you too momma. I'm just glad that you got to hear me sing even if it was to show that I have improved in a skill here despite training for a new threat to the Digital World."

"Well now that we have demonstrated how far we have come in our individual skills all that's left is to await your decision." Apoclypse said as he and the others stood in front of their parents.

"We will discuss whether or not your friends get to stay here for the remainder of the summer Apoclypse, in the meantime you are all free to do as you will, come to the sitting room at five and we will render our decisions. And Mimi I would like to say that was the most beautiful opera singing I've heard in years." Mrs. Kamiya said as she walked down the ramp from the seats next to the doors where she left Tai, Matt and Mrs. Takaishi.

**5:00 in the sitting room…**

Sitting on the floor in front of their parents the kids nervously hold onto their Digimon partners hands wondering what was about to happen. After a few minutes of silence in which the parents finished their tea Mrs. Kamiya says, "After careful thought we have come to a decision. Tai, Matt go pack your bags your returning home and your punishment is nowhere near close to being done after what you did earlier." Standing and walking out of the room with their heads hung in shame Tai and Matt leave without a single word.

Turning to WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon Mrs. Kamiya says, "WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon. Since you are not responsible for your actions we will not punish you by prohibiting you from staying with Tai and Matt. So you are welcome to come with us as our guests. However we ask that you don't interfere with Tai and Matt's punishments when we arrive home. Also if it's possible can you revert to your rookie forms, it will be easier to hide your presence if you do."

Quickly WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon revert to back to Agumon and Gabumon.

Finally turning her attention at the rest of the kids she says, "As for the rest of you, you have shown us enough to be convinced that you indeed have excelled in a specific field of study while you trained for the threat to come. So we have decided that you can stay here and continue your training on the condition that you still work on your skills. Lady Dawnflare and Mr. Windspeaker have agreed to send us an email every couple of days reporting on your progress. You will be under the constant eye of one of them or one of the servants and will adhere to a schedule of training that they have drawn up to make sure you train equally in your skill and in your combat practice."

With a respectful bow to their mothers the kids say in unison. "Thank you mother."

"Two last things." Mrs. Kamiya started. "First, we have decided that those of you under diaper punishment can have your pants back and are freed from your diaper punishment. And second, while you are here we give Lady Dawnflare and Mr. Windspeaker full parental rights over you. If you misbehave in any way they have our permission to discipline you as they deem fit. Am I clear on this matter?"

"Yes ma'am." The kids chimed in unison

"Very well, we'll be leaving as soon as dinner is over so if you want to spend some time with us now is it." Mrs. Kamiya said

**Chapter 10**

**10:00 at "The Room"…**

"Hmm, what if I tried this…no that's no good. How about this…nope that didn't work. DAMNIT this is starting to piss me off." Apoclypse said around the screwdriver in his mouth as he was working on a computer control panel linked to "The Room" through his laptop.

"Apoclypse how many times do your mother and I have to tell you not to swear?" Windspeaker said as he came around the corner with a sandwich and a glass of milk in his hands.

"Sorry father I'm just really frustrated. The second I fixed the problem that caused the room to malfunction five days ago another one popped up and it just keeps happening. I've been trying to find the source of the corruption but it keeps slipping by me."

"While I don't know how you built the room, I'm very good at programing and coding. Maybe I could take a look while you eat something? You've been at this since you left Cody to practice his Kuk Sool Won that you taught him." Windspeaker said handing the sandwich and milk to Apoclypse.

Placing the laptop on the floor and standing up Apoclypse accepts the food and says, "I don't know if you can find something I haven't but go ahead father. Probably I'm just trying too hard to find the proverbial tree in the forest."

A few minutes later Apoclypse is three quarters through his sandwich when Windspeaker says, "Eureka, I think I found the source of the corruption son. It looks like somehow when you programmed the "evil" Digimon to have combat practice against, you accidently programmed the full powers of Diaboromon with his computer virus properties. There I deleted that particular "evil" Digimon and now let's see if that fixes the problem with the "corrupted" data."

Placing his milk and sandwich to the side Apoclypse takes the laptop from his father and with rapid flicks of the keys returns to the line of code he had been working on when his father had come with the snack. Fixing the corruption Apoclypse runs a scan to see if any new corruption has appeared and is shocked that none pop up.

"Son of a…" Apoclypse started before he was cut off by his father

"Think hard before you finish that sentence son." Windspeaker said with a threatening tone.

"Biscuit eating bulldog," Apoclypse finished then said, "I can't believe you figured out the problem in ten minutes. How did you know it was Diaboromon's Data that caused the corruption?"

"What you think that just because I gave you my blessing to be a Digidestined and do what you were meant to that I wouldn't pay attention to the workings of your new world? I remember seeing Tai and Matt destroy the original Diaboromon when that thing was in the internet and being broadcast all over the word through the computers. And when I saw him in your list of enemies I took a gamble and it paid off." Windspeaker said with a sarcastic tone.

Disconnecting the laptop from the control panel Apoclypse says, "Well now that we fixed the source of the problem and repaired the corrupted data we can start using "The Room" again. What time did you have us, that is to say the others and I, scheduled for combat practice now that you and mother are in charge of our time here like it was a real camp?"

Checking his pocket watch Windspeaker says, "Well you were supposed to start in an hour, however now that "The Room" is fixed I don't see why we can't let you lot start sooner if you want."

"Nah we'll let them have that extra hour to practice their skills. Would you care to observe us during combat practice?" Apoclypse said reattaching the cover to the control panel.

"As interesting as it sounds I think it best if I don't watch in person. I've noticed that I seem to intimidate some of your friends. However I will watch from my private parlor by having the feed from inside "The Room" go to the T.V. in there." Windspeaker said standing up and stretching.

"Alright, I guess we'll see you at dinner then father." Apoclypse said before he finished off his sandwich and downed the last of the milk.

**11:30 inside "The Room"…**

"Ok guys now that were warmed up its time to get some real fighting practice in." Apoclypse said as the others were trying to catch their second wind after having chased him and Blood around the Holo-simulation of Ancient Rome.

"Warmed up he says. Real practice he says. What is with this guy, it's like he isn't even affected by the distance we traveled?" Ken grumbled as he panted trying to catch his breath.

"Well Ken, to be perfectly frank, I'm not. After I made this room I programmed a group of the greatest assassins in history to chase me in this very city. I ran it every day until I was able to outrun them to the safety zone. Still, you guys are faster than those assassins so you should be proud you even got close to me before I crossed the safety line. Now Kari, T.K. who would you say was your most formidable adversary you have faced to date, not counting the simulation of him."

Looking at each other Kari and T.K. quickly discuss the mega levels they have fought and agree that the most formidable in comparison to their power level would have to have been Piedmon. Accessing his handheld terminal for "The Room" Apoclypse pulls up Piedmon's data and compares his power level to the current power levels of each Digimon in the group including their evolved forms.

After a couple minutes of deliberation Apoclypse says, "Ok, I know that MagnaAngemon is more than a match for Piedmon despite being an ultimate compared to a mega when you fought him the first time; but I think that all of your Digimon are stronger than him individually right now. However I want to see what Imperialdramon can do against him in his fighter mode. Davis, Ken, Ex-Veemon and Wormmon would you mind indulging me for a moment and fight him, I want to see how hardy you guys have become since we have started training."

"Alright let's do this" Davis and Ken said as Wormmon Digivolved into Stingmon.

As Stingmon and Ex-Veemon DNA Digivolved to Paildramon then to Imperialdramon fighter mode Apoclypse used his terminal to load the arena program and then to load Piedmon at fifty times his actual power, though he didn't tell them that he pumped up Piedmon. Once Imperialdramon takes to the arena floor Piedmon initializes combat by dashing right for him throwing several swords yelling "Trump Sword."

Dodging to the side Imperialdramon fires his Positron Laser at Piedmon who easily evades blast after blast of the laser laughing manically saying, "Oh very nice, very nice indeed I haven't had this much fun in years. You are a very good test of my powers."

Tossing a large white cloth at Imperialdramon, Piedmon yells, "Clown Trick." As the cloth descends Imperialdramon sets it ablaze with his laser and launches himself at Piedmon lashing out with his fist. Back and forth the two go at it for over an hour finally Imperialdramon scores a direct hit with his Positron Laser making Piedmon disintegrate into nothingness.

"Impressive, simply impressive. You defeated him with little trouble and at fifty times his real power. You didn't even take much damage." Apoclypse said causing Ken, Davis and Imperialdramon to look at him with a look of slight irritation at the knowledge that Apoclypse had boosted Piedmon's power level without telling them.

"Well did you get the data you needed Apoclypse?" Kari asked sitting on the bench to his left.

"Sort of, you see I knew they were strong enough to still defeat him at fifty times his normal power but I wanted to see how much trouble he gave them at that power setting. I think that they are almost at a skill and power level to finally be a match for Blood and I. However I want to run this same test with each of you though I will change the enemy but keep the overall power setting the same. Once each of you are able to beat or at least be a match for Blood and I we will be ready to start working on the real task of beating him."

"So let me get this straight. You're saying that all this time we've spent were not even halfway to our goal?" Izzy snapped showing quite clearly that he was annoyed.

"Well I did say this creature wasn't going to get here for a year and you saw his power yourself when I loaded him at one thousandth of his power. Yet none of you have come close to beating me and Blood in any type of battle, whether it was one on one, two on one or even all of you against us Izzy. I never said that it would be easy to get to the power level we needed to reach to stand a chance." Apoclypse replied starting to lose control of his temper

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath trying to calm down, and failing to do so, Apoclypse continues, "I apologize if I seem to be acting like a real big asshole right now guys, but I thought that you all understood what the fuck we were up against after I had shown you him at a severely reduced power level. If you want to know exactly where you all stand at the moment against him we can load that program again and this time I'll let him be at full power, let's make it interesting and turn off the safety features of "The Room" while we're at it. Maybe when you come close to dying like Kitsuna, Crystal and I did then you will understand why the hell I'm getting pissed off."

Tugging on Apoclypse's arm to try and lead him away from the group Kitsuna says, "Apoclypse, back off for a moment and compose yourself."

"I don't think it would be a good use of time just yet. However Apoclypse is right none of you really know how terrifying this monster is, I know more than my dear cousin because for the past six months I was under his control as his slave. Please just trust our judgment when we say you're not even ready to start the real training. So if there are no more questions or complaints can we please move on with testing each of your powers to see where you guys fall?" Crystal said in a calming compassionate voice.

Nodding at what Crystal and Apoclypse had said everyone consents to the testing and after another four hours find that they are all about the same level. After a quick compilation of data on his terminal Apoclypse says, "Ok I think that starting tomorrow after Sora, Cody, Ken and Kari return from their trials in the temple with their weapons we can try one more test and have each of you take on Blood to see if you are all ready for the next step of the training. I'll go with you guys to use my own weapon to drop the barrier around the temple. For now let's call it a day it's almost time for dinner and I know that your all famished after fighting so hard."

As they leave "The Room" Apoclypse's father speaks using the intercom in his parlor, which was connected to every room in the mansion and was able to communicate with them individually, "Apoclypse come to my parlor before you go to the dining room the rest of you can go on ahead."

Mumbling to himself Apoclypse swears again remembering that his father had been watching the whole thing and no doubt heard him swear again. Apoclypse quickly heads to his fathers' parlor.

**5:00 in the dining room…**

As Apoclypse limps into the dining room he sees that Kari and T.K. are both reading to themselves from a pair of papers that looked to have been folded in thirds. As he gingerly lowers himself onto his chair the others notice that his eyes are red and the pain he is failing to hide.

"Are you ok Apoclypse?" Mimi asked concerned.

Fighting to keep his voice steady Apoclypse replies, "I'll…be alright Mimi. I forgot that dad was watching our combat session from his private parlor and he heard me cuss at Izzy. Having cussed in his hearing five times today he decided that I could benefit from a "behavioral adjustment." But I'll be fine, so what are you two reading Kari, T.K.?"

"Oh we were just reading letters that Matt and Tai sent us. It's been almost a week since they left and they felt like they should send us a letter. Here I'll read it aloud since I've already read it and saw nothing secret they didn't want us to know."

_Dear Kari, It's your big brother Tai. I just wanted to write to you and apologize for not setting a better example for you as a big brother. What with going along with the lie instead of telling mom and dad the truth about being able to go back to the Digital World and with the new threat coming, and then fighting like a wild beast with Matt and nearly breaking moms jaw._

_It's been nearly a week since we left and mom and dad have been very adamant about my punishment. When we got home mom informed me that until school starts I would be subjected to the same punishment you and the other younger Digidestined had to undergo while our parents were at the Mansion. On top of that they have decided that to ensure the lesson sticks that I would not be allowed any T.V., videogames, computer access, phone privilege, D-terminal use or radio. I also get a spanking every day from either mom or dad, mom spanks me before breakfast with her hairbrush when it's her turn while dad spanks me before bed with the belt. They said that the spankings would last only for a week and that I should be thankful it's not more than that. _

_I realize that I only have myself to blame for my actions but I can't help but be a little angry with Apoclypse, I mean he was the one to make the cover story and the "juice" to improved our skills. But ultimately I can blame only myself because I chose to take the large dose of the stuff out of pride as the leader of the Digidestined._

_Mom says to say that she got the first email from Windspeaker about your progress as have the other mothers and they are pleased that you have developed even further in your individual skills and wish you the best of luck with your combat practice for the upcoming battle._

_Before mom put the no computer punishment on me she allowed me to see the message Gennai sent me about the "juice". It said that the possible negative side effects have an 80% chance to happen for humans whereas it is only 40% for Digimon. While only Matt and Myself have shown negative side effects Mom said that I should tell all of you that you should really weigh the risks of the side effects against the possible beneficial effects and that none of you should take it unless you are 100% certain that it's worth it. _

_Remember always that I love you and will do anything to protect you,_

_Tai._

"Matt's letter said the same thing except that he blames his pigheaded nature about being able to do anything Tai can." T.K. said folding his letter back up and putting it into the envelope.

"But they are right we can't casually take the large dose of the stuff. So far we have seen massive improvements in power in Ex-Veemon, Davis and our brothers we also saw two really bad side effects when they went berserk and started fighting with WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon fighting in the air at the same time. That's an average of fifty percent of negative effects and when you factor in what Gennai said I don't think it is worth it just yet. You said yourself Apoclypse that we are ready to start the second phase of our training I personally feel that we don't need the mass doses just yet. But if we get close to his arrival and were not quite ready yet then and only then should we take it in a massive dose. However that doesn't mean that we should stop drinking a glass at each meal, as it seems to be helping us without causing any side effect." Kari said folding up her own letter and putting it away as their dinner was placed in front of them by the servers.

As they ate dinner Apoclypse listened to the others talk thinking long and hard about what they should do next and about his actions earlier that resulted in his punishment. As the Desert course came out, a slice of chocolate cake with a scoop of strawberry ice cream, Apoclypse handed his back to the servant who had just begun to turn saying, "please enjoy this yourself, I don't deserve desert tonight." This caused the others to just stare at him openly as they knew that from their conversations with him, when they were getting to know him, that he loved Chocolate cake and Strawberry ice cream.

Seeing that Apoclypse had refused the desert Dawnflare and Windspeaker walk over to their son and placing her hand on his forehead to check his temperature she says, "Are you okay sweetie, you never turn down chocolate cake or strawberry ice cream."

"I'm not sick momma if that's what you mean. I just don't feel like I deserve desert tonight. I lost my temper and ended up yelling and swearing at my friends. Dad heard it because he was watching our training in "The Room" from his private parlor with a direct feed into "The Room" and punished me but I still don't feel like I deserve desert." Apoclypse said morosely

"Sweetie I know you are sorry for losing your temper. You have a good heart and I'm sure your friends know you didn't mean it when you lost your temper." Dawnflare said turning him in his seat to look him in the eyes.

Kneeling by his wife Windspeaker says in a calm fatherly voice, "I know it's very stressful what you're trying to do, and you have done more in the past six months what with building "The Room" and preparing to train your friends for the upcoming battle, than most people could do in ten years. I think it would be in the best interest of your health if you stepped back for a while, let Crystal or 'Suna take over the training for a while and just relax. You are just one person and you're still a kid. You can't expect yourself to take on all the worlds' ills at your age; even full grown adults are unable to handle that much pressure without help."

Squeezing Apoclypse's arm in friendship Kitsuna says, "Your father is right Apoclypse, you are not in this alone and you don't have to shoulder the burden of helping the others get to where we need them to be. You really have done a tremendous job getting them this far. Starting tomorrow I'll take over training the others for the battle you just relax. You can still train Cody in Kuk Sool Won but other than that I want you to just relax. Take some time to collect your thoughts, play with Blood just for the sake of playing, read, whatever you want to do but you are not to train for the battle."

Tearing up Apoclypse turns to the others and says, "Do you all feel the same as my parents and 'Suna? Have I really done more than most people could and have taken too much onto my own shoulders?"

Nodding with the others with a look of respect Mimi says, "We understand why you are doing this for us Apoclypse. Believe me we have been through a lot since we first became Digidestined and while we were able to overcome every challenge it was only due to our friendship and relying on each other to support us that gave us the ability to do so. You have done for us what would have taken probably over two years for us to get to on our own."

Overcome with emotion Apoclypse finally loses control and breaks down in his mothers' arms bawling like a baby. Wrapping him in a tight hug Dawnflare picks Apoclypse up and carries him from the room gently shushing him.

With a saddened voice Windspeaker says to the others, who were as shocked by Apoclypse breaking down as they were at the strength of his mother being able to carry him with little effort, "My son will be fine in a while. You may not believe it but before that creature was created he hardly ever showed his emotions, when he did it usually came out in bursts of anger like you saw earlier or in a total breakdown like what just happened. He tries so much to be an adult that he never really lets himself be a kid. When he wasn't busy building inventions to try and help people, he would help his mother and I with our business's by going over the books and coming up with new business plans to help us get more money to our employees while still having a profit, despite our objections and encouragement to act more like other children his age. When this is over I would be very appreciative if you could help him "learn" how to be a kid."

"Well do our best sir." Cody said as the others nodded.

**In Apoclypse's bedroom…**

Picking her son back up off the changing table Dawnflare carries the still crying Apoclypse to his bed and lays down on it with him cuddled against her while she continues to coo to him while rubbing a small circle on his back to calm him down. After about ten more minutes of crying Apoclypse's tears come to a halt although he continues to tremble.

"You ok now sweetie, it's been a long time since you've done that hunh?"

Barely managing to keep his voice steady Apoclypse says, "I'll be ok now momma, you're right it's been a long time since I let loose like that. I'm just so uncertain of things lately that I've been trying harder and harder to not let things go to pieces that I finally cracked. I just don't know what I can do; I've done everything I can think of and more but were nowhere near ready to fight him. The only thing I can think of that we haven't done is have everyone take a mass dose of the "juice" but after what happened with Tai and Matt they all agree that we shouldn't do it unless were not ready and he shows up. And I can't blame them, they are right to fear the possibility of being effected by the downsides of the juice."

"All I can say sweetie is that if you can't trust your instincts trust those of your friends and cousin. They are in this as much as you and are willing to do whatever it takes to help." Dawnflare said hugging Apoclypse tightly.

"Auntie how is Apoclypse?" Crystal asked quietly from the door.

"He'll be alright dear, he just needed a good cry to relieve the stress. I'll just leave you two alone to talk." Dawnflare said patting Apoclypse on the shoulder as he turned onto his side not looking at Crystal.

When the two of them were alone Crystal says, "Apoc you know I'm here for you if you need me. You're my cousin and one of my best friends, if you want to talk I'll listen."

Ponderously and slowly Apoclypse says, "Crystal…do…do you think we have a chance at succeeding?"

Sitting on the edge of the bed Crystal replies, "Honestly…I think we do. I've been keeping something back from you all because I didn't know if it would help. But seeing how powerful the others are after their testing today I think it's time to tell you at least. While under his control I was able to watch him, study him, I think I found a weakness in his power that Izzy didn't catch. I know from him that you all found out that he has a slight delay between each set of arms attacks. And he also has a massive power drain immediately after an attack. But I figured out that while he is weaker after attacking strength wise, he makes a barrier around himself while he recharges to protect himself. That is the bad news; the good news is that his barrier can be completely removed by a special skill of the sacred weapons it's why he sent me to keep you guys from getting inside. If we can figure out how to use the special skill we will have a significantly improved chance to beat him."

"Crystal that's great, but let's just have 'Suna work on their combat skills for now, we should wait until everyone has acquired their sacred weapons, and for you to purify yours. That way we can try and figure out each weapons power all at once." Apoclypse said quietly.

"Crystal…" Apoclypse started

"Yes?" Crystal asked when he didn't say anything

"Would…would you mind…would you mind joining me in some "baby time" tomorrow?"

"If it would help you relax like auntie Dawnflare and uncle Windspeaker want you to do I would be happy to. Kitsuna can take care of the training and getting those who are meant to go into the temple tomorrow. His Masamune of Courage will drop the barrier just as easily as my corrupted Sai of Knowledge. Kitty, Blood do you want to join us or do you want to go work with the others?"

Jumping up on the bed Blood walks over to Apoclypse and as he curls up next to him says, "I'll join you, I don't know what "baby time" is but if it will help Apoclypse relax and relieve himself of the stress that he has been putting himself under I will do anything to help."

"You know I enjoy playing with you during your "baby time" Crystal so if you and Apoclypse are going to have one tomorrow I'll play too, besides it might be fun teaching Blood how to play during "baby time"." Kitty said climbing onto Crystals shoulder sticking her nose in Crystal's ear startling a giggle out of her.

"Well I guess I'll let you go to sleep Apoc I know how drained you must feel after letting go like that. I'll make sure the others know you're ok and tell 'Suna and Mimi are very quiet when we come back to go to bed ourselves."

"Thanks Crystal." Apoclypse said sleepily.


End file.
